The San Miguel Beermen flexed their prowess to tally their latest win in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup.

Leaning on their balanced attack, San Miguel dominated the Terrafirma Dyip, 128-89, during their faceoff at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Rizal on Sunday evening, May 18.

CJ Perez and Mo Tautuaa headed the Beermen’s charge, putting up 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, and 17 markers, eight boards, and two dimes, respectively.

Also stellar were Rodney Brondial (16 points, 22 rebounds), and Juami Tiongson, Don Trollano, June Mar Fajardo, and Jericho Cruz, who respectively finished with 13, 12, 12, and 11 points.

The Beermen improved to 5-2 in the team standings due to this win, which is enough for their current solo third, only trailing the unbeaten Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots (6-0) and the 5-1 NLEX Road Warriors.

But despite the scoring surge of his squad, Beermen head coach Leo Austria pointed out that what is to be credited is their defense, which limited the Dyip to only making 33 of their 92 attempts (35.9 percent).

“That was what we were after,” he said after the game.

“We cannot let Terrafirma do their thing offensively.”

“And we were also able to execute because they were playing zone defense,” he added.

The Beermen magnified this in the pivotal canto wherein they scored 42 markers to the Dyip’s 27, and it eventually led to San Miguel pulling away by as huge as 39 later on.

On the other hand, this was the seventh loss for the Dyip in eight appearances, also their sixth straight in the same span.

Mark Nonoy was solid for his squad, posting 24 points, three rebounds, and a steal, and following him were Stanley Pringle, who finished with 17, and Louie Sangalang, who posted a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double. (ABS-CBN News)