San Miguel outlasts Ginebra in OT for 2nd straight win

June Mar Fajardo hit the game-tying bucket with 1.1 seconds left. Richard Esguerra, ABS-CBN Sports

June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos hit the big shots in the clutch as San Miguel Beer overcame Barangay Ginebra in overtime, 104-97, to rack up their second win in a row in the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Fajardo, the reigning four-time MVP, got a shooter's bounce on his turnaround jump shot with 1.1 seconds left to tie the game at 93, and import Renaldo Balkman made a superb defensive stop by picking off Joe Devance's inbound pass to send the contest to overtime.





San Miguel then took over in overtime, with Santos opening up the extension with a triple before Chris Ross knocked down two charities for a 98-93 lead. A Greg Slaughter bucket gave the Gin Kings a glimmer of hope, but a split at the line from Alex Cabagnot and yet another Santos triple pushed SMB's lead to seven points, 102-95.

ABAI FOR THE TIE to send the game to overtime. pic.twitter.com/m2QSHJrx0h

— Camille B. Naredo (@camillenaredo) June 3, 2018

The Beermen held on from there, in the process hiking their record to 2-3 while handing the Gin Kings a second consecutive defeat.

"We know from the start that this will be an exciting game because both of us are struggling this conference," SMB coach Leo Austria after their win. "This game is very important."

"Fortunately, we were able to get this win, and I think it could be a good morale-booster for us going ot the next game namin."

The Beermen were playing without top rookie Christian Standhardinger, who was dealing with pain in his knee. However, they got a monster game from Fajardo, who had 24 points and 19 rebounds, while Balkman finished with 27 points and 11 boards.

Fajardo's heroics would not have been possible without Santos, who knocked down a booming three-pointer with 1:45 left to tie the game at 89 after it appeared that Ginebra would seize control of the contest. Santos scored in transition to push SMB ahead, 91-89, with 25.7 seconds to go, but the Beermen left Joe Devance wide open in the left corner and he made them pay by a splashing a triple for a 92-91 lead.





All seemed lost for SMB when their next possession went nowhere, forcing Santos to foul Sol Mercado. Unfortunately for Ginebra, Mercado could only make one of two shots for a 93-91 score, setting the stage for Fajardo's clutch bucket.

"'Yung overtime, that's an opportunity na hindi kailangan i-miss ng mga players," said Austria. "They stepped up, and maybe that's because of the experiences we had in the past."

Ginebra ran out of steam in the extra period, and Santos by his lonesome outscored the Gin Kings, 8-4, in overtime.

Santos finished with 19 points and eight boards, while Marcio Lassiter scored 11 and Chris Ross added 10. Cabagnot missed a double-double as he finished with nine points and eight assists.

It was a close game all throughout, with SMB building its biggest lead in the early goings, 10-2, before Ginebra caught up. The contest featured seven deadlocks and nine lead changes before the Beermen seized control for good in OT.

Brownlee had a horrendous shooting performance, making only seven of 27 attempts for 18 points. He also had 14 rebounds and seven assists. Japeth Aguilar had 17 points, while Slaughter had nine points and 14 rebounds.

The Gin Kings dropped to 1-5, putting them at 11th place in the standings. SMB, meanwhile, is at ninth place and just a game behind Columbian Dyip and GlobalPort (3-4) in the standings.

The scores:

San Miguel 104 - Balkman 27, Fajardo 24, Santos 19, Lassiter 11, Ross 10, Cabagnot 9, Mamaril 4, Rosser 0.

Ginebra 97 - Brownlee 18, Aguilar 17, Devance 15, Thompson 13, Cruz 10, Slaughter 9, Mercado 8, Tenorio 7.

Quarters: 23-20, 47-43, 71-73, 93-93, 104-97.

SOURCE: http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/03/18/pba-san-miguel-outlasts-ginebra-in-ot-for-2nd-straight-win