San Miguel, Globalport trip rivals

Flashy Globalport rookie Stanley Pringle tries to drive past Red Bull’s Carlo Lastimosa in yesterday’s game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — June Mar Fajardo scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Ronald Tubid added eight points in the fourth quarter as San Miguel Beer conquered a second straight heavyweight in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations Sunday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Two Beermen also finished in twin digits in an 87-80 ripping of defending champion Purefoods that boosted San Miguel Beer to an early tie for the lead with idle sister team Barangay Ginebra while dealing the Star Hotshots a second straight setback.

Purefoods, which started this tournament 0-3 last season before eventually winning the title, played without the injured Ian Sangalang, the resting Marc Pingris and former two-time MVP James Yap.

Sangalang will be out for at least five months because of a torn ACL suffered in a 73-93 loss to Alaska, while Yap is nursing a sore right calf muscle and didn’t play despite suiting up.

“It’s a good win for us. We beat two finalists [in our first two games],” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said, also referring to a similarly authoritative win over Rain or Shine last week. “This is an indication that our team is on the right track.

But we plan to keep on improving.”

The Beermen’s impressive win, which saw them take leads of as many as 19 points before holding off the Hotshots in the stretch, completely overshadowed Globalport’s 91-81 victory over Barako Bull in the first game.

Alex Cabagnot fired 21 points and No. 1 pick Stanley Pringle contributed 19 as the Batang Pier rose to 1-1 after a disappointing foldup against NLEX last week.

The win also gave coach Pido Jarencio a new lease on life with team owner Mikee Romero later admitting that the former University of Santo Tomas mentor in the UAAP is “under assessment” after that collapse against NLEX.

“He (Jarencio) is under assessment,” Romero told scribes later. “Pero kung nag-0-2, magkakaalaman na kaagad.”

Reports have it that Globalport management had already talked to Franz Pumaren last Thursday for the possibility of taking over Jarencio in mid-stream.

Romero denied this, however.

Mark Isip and Yancy De Ocampo drilled in 12 points apiece for the Batang Pier.

The scores:

First Game

GLOBALPORT 91—Cabagnot 21, Pringle 19, Isip 12, De Ocampo 12, Romeo 9, Jensen 7, Bacalao 6, Semerad 5, Taha 0, Buenafe 0, Duncil 0, Ponferada 0, Nabong 0.

BARAKO 81—Miranda 16, Garcia 12, Marcelo 12, Fortuna 10, Intal 8, Lastimosa 6, Salva 5, Pascual 5, Lanete 5, Wilson 2, Salvador 0, Paredes 0, Pennisi 0.

Quarters: 25-21, 48-47, 74-67, 91-81

Second Game

SAN MIGUEL BEER 87—Fajardo 22, Tubid 16, Santos 14, Mercado 12, Lutz 9, Kramer 5, Ross 4, Pascual 3, Lassiter 2, Maierhofer 0, Semerad 0, Hubalde 0, Omolon 0, Chua 0.

PUREFOODS 80—Taha 14, Simon 14, Barroca 13, Devance 11, Melton 9, Maliksi 9, Reavis 8, Mallari 2, Alvarez 0, Holstein 0, Yap 0, Gaco 0, Matias 0, Allado 0. Quarters: 21-22, 47-33, 66-57, 87-80