Marcio Lassiter spearheaded a vicious San Miguel fightback in the third period on the way to its lopsided win in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup.
San Miguel dropped a 51-point bomb in the third period and the Beermen ran away with a 112-103 win over Converge in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig on Friday, April 19.
The Beermen thus preserved their immaculate record in six games to secure a quarterfinals berth.
Trailing 43-50 at the turn, San Miguel leaned on Marcio Lassiter to spearhead the turnaround.
Lassiter dropped 17 points in the third period that saw the Beermen go on an 18-5 counterattack capped off by one of his five triples in the frame with still 7:39 remaining.
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But they refused to ease on the gas pedal, with the rest of the crew joing the fray to break the game wide open.
With 32 seconds remaining in the quarter, Don Trollano unloaded a three-pointer of his own to give San Miguel a comfortable 25-point cushion, 93-68, which it never relinquished.
June Mar Fajardo puts in double-double numbers for San Miguel against Converge in their PBA Philippine Cup battle on Friday, April 19. | Photo (c) PBA
The FiberXers staged an uprising behind Alec Stockton’s career night but it did little to prop up their sagging fortunes.
Stockton fired 36 points built on five triples, but it went for naught as Converge is now virtually eliminated from playoff contention with a woeful 0-8 mark.
“We just started bad again. It’s like the Terrafirma game when we had a long break. We just lacked energy which was what happened now. But I told my players they had to pick up their game in the second half which they did,” said SMB coach Jorge Gallent.
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Lassiter shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to highlight his second half explosion. He also collared five rebounds,and dished out three assists.
But it was CJ Perez who topscored for the Beermen with 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Don Trollano and Terrence Romeo had 19 and 18 points, respectively.
June Mar Fajardo turned in a double-double outing of 14 points and 17 rebounds.