Beermen pip Painters, stay alive

SAN MIGUEL’S Alex Cabagnot gets away from Jewel Ponferada of Rain or Shine for a layup. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MARCIO Lassiter doesn’t let the failures of the past break the warrior in him.

Struggling in the past two games, Lassiter came out firing last night to help an all-Filipino San Miguel Beer hurdle Rain or Shine, 104-98, and live another game in the semifinals of the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Lassiter fired five triples, including three straight in a huge San Miguel Beer tear, before punctuating a 30-point explosion with a pair of crucial offensive efforts in the end.

It was a big turnaround from Lassiter’s two previous outputs where the hot-shooting guard had a measly total production of six points on 2-of-20 field goals during the Beermen’s losses in Games 1 and 2.

With Lassiter’s heroics, the Beermen are now back on track in the best-of-five series despite dumping their import due to “unacceptable behavior.”

Tyler Wilkerson stormed out of the dugout minutes after San Miguel Beer’s setback on Tuesday and didn’t show up in the practice session the following day.

That outburst forced the San Miguel management to part ways with its import and promised to bring in a new one now that the Beermen have extended the series to a fourth game.

“It’s my decision not to let our import play,” said San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria. “It will be hard to win three straight games without an import and I hope this will be a rallying point for [the rest of the players].”

The Beermen are no strangers to pulling off surprises from the edge. They captured the Philippine Cup last conference after climbing out of a 0-3 hole against the Alaska Aces in their best-of-seven series.

“I have to praise my players,” said Austria. “They have the desire to win even though we don’t have an import.”

Without Wilkerson, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo complemented Lassiter’s offensive show.

The Beermen threatened to pull away in the third with five consecutive triples before Rain or Shine charged back in the fourth.

The Elasto Painters had several opportunities to end the series but errors and bungled desperation three-pointers hounded them.

Maverick Ahanmisi saw his pass get intercepted by Chris Ross in the dying seconds while Jeffrei Chan and Jericho Cruz missed four triple tries inside the final two minutes.

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 104—Lassiter 30, Cabagnot 28, Santos 18, Fajardo 13, Espinas 5, De Ocampo 4, David 3, Ross 2, Arana 1, Heruela 0, Tubid 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 98—Cruz 25, Lee 15, Ahanmisi 12, Quinahan 11, Chan 8, Almazan 7, Henderson-Niles 7, Belga 5, Norwood 4, Ponferada 4, Ibanes 0, Tiu 0.

Quarters: 27-31, 51-53, 80-70, 104-98