San Miguel claims No.1 seed

By Robert Andaya

NINE down, two to go for San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Led by Gilas Pilipinas mainstays CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo, San Miguel blasted the Robert Bolick-less NLEX , 120-100,  for its ninth straight win at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.

Perez scattered a game-high 30 points on 7-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Fajardo added 20 points and a game-high 21 rebounds to power the Beermen to the No. 1 seed in the 12-team tournament.

Jericho Cruz and Terrence Romeoadded 15  points each and Don Trollano and Marcio Lassiter chipping in 14 points apiece for the  Beermen, who  are  now two games away from completing a sweep of the elimination round. 

San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent is confident the Beerman can continue to play well.

“If we play the same way we’ve been playing, it would not bother us. For as long as they (the Beermen) play hard and know their roles, we’ll be okay,” said Gallent,  referring to San Miguel’s last two assignments against  Blackwater  on Wednesday and Meralco in an out-of-town game in Batangas City  on Saturday. 

Enoch Valdez and Jhan Mchale Nermal  finished with  18 and 16 points, respectively, for NLEX, which played minus Bolick,  

Matt Nieto (14 points), Sean Anthony (12),  and Rob Herndon (11) also contributed  and scored in double figures for NLEX which to 5-4 overall with its third straight setback.

 Bolick, the conference leader in scoring, begged off to attend to his wife Cassandra after giving birth to their son.

In the curtainraiser, Meralco held Magnolia Chicken Timplados to an all-time franchise low and posted a surprisingly easy  74-51 win.

Chris Newsome and Raymond Almazan, led four players with double-digit scores for the Luigi Trillo-mentored Bolts.

Newsome finished with  12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks, while Almazan added  a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bolts, who improved to 5-5 win-loss record.

Chris Banchero contributed 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, while Brandon Bates chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

The scores:

First game

Meralco (74) – Newsome 12, Almazan 12, Banchero 11, Bates 10, Caram 9, Quinto 6, Maliksi 4, Black 3, Dario 3, Hodge 2, Pascual 2, Torres 0, Pasaol 0

Magnolia (51) – Sangalang 8, Laput 6, Dionisio 6, Lee 6, Dela Rosa 5, Barroca 5, Tratter 4, Balanza 4, Escoto 2, Corpuz 2, Eriobu 2, Mendoza 1, Reavis 0.

Quarterscores: 21-14, 35-21, 56-34, 74-51.

Second game

San Miguel (120) – Perez 30, Fajardo 20, Romeo 15, Cruz 15, Lassiter 14, Trollano 14, Enciso 6, Brondial 4, Teng 2, Tautuaa 0, Ross 0.

NLEX (103) – Valdez 18, Nermal 16, Nieto 14, Anthony 12, Herndon 11, Rodger 8, Miranda 7, Semerad 7, Fajardo 4, Amer 2, Taha 2.

Quarterscores: 25-15, 50-41, 83-71, 120-103.

PHOTO CAPTION:  CJ Perez of  San Miguel Beer:  game-high 30 points. PBA photo