Beermen nip Mixers; E-Painters break ice

SAN Mig Coffee’s Marqus Blakely puts up a shot under pressure from San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos in last night’s game. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / NUKI SABIO

Reggie Williams did the most damage on both ends in the stretch as San Miguel Beer hacked out a 92-90 win over San Mig Coffee last night in the PBA Governors’ Cup at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The NBA veteran first drained a triple from way out to give the Beermen a cushion they sorely needed. And when he couldn’t put the Mixers away from the free throw line with 5.6 seconds left, he sealed the win by breaking up the potential overtime-forging play.

San Miguel thus rose to 2-1, its only loss coming at the hands of Alaska in the inaugurals two Sundays ago, while the loss was the first in two games for the Grand Slam-seeking Mixers.

Todd Purves, the Beermen’s active assistant coach, described Williams “as the best shooter that I ever coached,” but the SMB  import nearly turned into a heel when he muffed two charities off James Yap’s first foul.

Marqus Blakely grabbed the rebound after the second free throw miss by Williams and, with San Mig not having a timeout, the Mixers’ import was forced to dribble all the way to their side of the court only to lose it on a steal by Williams.

The Beermen took a 92-87 lead with 13.7 seconds to go after two June Mar Fajardo free throws but Yap hit a triple off Williams to give San Mig a chance.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine showed up with its old fearsome form earlier and whipped Globalport.

Arizona Reid scored 30 points, had 13 rebounds and missed a triple-double by just two feeds, and Jeff Chan added 19 with Paul Lee shooting 17 to lead the Elasto Painters to a 119-97 plastering of the Batang Pier.

“We just shot the ball well,” said coach Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine, which nailed a first win in three matches.

Meanwhile, Globalport will be sending Leroy Hickerson in favor of former Ginebra import Dior Lowhorn.

Meralco, at the bottom with a 0-3 mark, is also recalling Mario West to take the place of Terrence Williams.

The scores:

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 119—Reid 30, Chan 19, Lee 17, Rodriguez 13, Arana 11, Almazan 7, Norwood 6, Tang 5, Uyloan 4, Teng 3, Belga 2, Tiu 2, Cruz 0, Nuyles 0, Ibanes 0.

GLOBALPORT 97—Romeo 22, Cabagnot 21, Hickerson 20, Washington 13, Menk 8, Macapagal 6, Garcia 5, Salva 2, Matias 0, Taha 0, Ponferada 0, Salvador 0, Sharma 0.

Quarters: 25-25, 50-45, 89-70, 119-97

Second Game

SAN MIGUEL BEER 92—Williams 29, Fajardo 18, Ross 15, Santos 13, Tubid 6, Lutz 6, Mercado 3, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 0, Duncil 0, Lassiter 0, Chua 0.

SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 90—Blakely 31, Barroca 13, Pingris 12, Yap 11, Devance 8, Simon 8, Reavis 5, Mallari 2, Maliksi 0, Sangalang 0, Melton 0.

Quarters: 19-21, 40-44, 60-67, 92-90