Santos sparks pivotal run in Beermen rout of Batang Pier
Arwind Santos of San Miguel (light) vs Stanley Pringle of Globalport (dark). NUKI SABIO
MANILA, Philippines — Arwind Santos led a big second-quarter run and San Miguel Beer breezed past Globalport 95-69 to grab a share of the lead anew in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Santos had 11 during a 19-0 run by the Beermen in the pivotal second period en route to a blowout and their seventh win against one loss for a tie in first place with idle Alaska in the standings.
Last season’s MVP Santos finished with 19 points and six rebounds.
“I think out of our eight games, this is our best game,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria. “Maybe because our intention is to really get into the top two and at the same time Global is coming off a road trip and they weren’t able to prepare well and we had five days to prepare for them.”
“I told the players that we need to win out of the last four [to get into the top two] and this is the first step,” Austria added after his team won its fourth straight game.
Reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Beermen, who led by as much as 29.
San Miguel Beer did it on both ends — going 10-of-19 from long range and limiting Globalport to just 29% shooting from the field, including a 3-of-31 clip from deep.
The Beermen also put a leash on Batang Pier’s guards Stanley Pringle, Alex Cabagnot and Terrence Romeo. The three combined for just 28 points on 12-of-47 shooting from the field.
Romeo came in averaging 28 points per game on close to 53% shooting in his past two games but was held to only seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Reliable backup center Doug Kramer returned to the San Miguel lineup after missing four games due to a Grade 2 ankle sprain. Kramer logged six minutes and had two points and three rebounds.
