Beermen tie Aces on top

FORWARD JC Intal and the Barako Bull Energy (left) send Cyrus Baguio and the Alaska Aces crashing to their first loss in the PBA Philippine Cup during last night’s game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

June Mar Fajardo dropped a career-high 36 points last night and led San Miguel Beer to a 90-74 victory over KIA Motors as the Beermen grabbed a piece of the PBA Philippine Cup lead

after Alaska fell at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-foot-10 San Miguel cornerstone was so on target that he even made the first triple of his pro career as the Beermen rose to 6-1, the same card being held by the Aces, who took an 85-78 defeat at the hands of Barako Bull earlier in the night.

San Miguel needed three quarters before breaking away from the Sorento as Fajardo worked the hardest by pumping in 26 of his total in the final two frames.

“It was a scary first three quarters,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “We don’t want to lose against KIA because it would have been an embarrassing situation for is.

“Our goal of getting into the top two now looks promising,” continued Austria.

Fajardo hit 12-of-13 two-point field goal tries and was 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. He also snared down 17 rebounds in 40 minutes for the most dominant individual performance by anyone in the conference.

“We were really going to go to June Mar because they (Sorento) cannot stop him,” Austria said.

KIA slumped to its seventh straight loss after an opening day 80-66 win over Blackwater.

Cohesive throughout and showing they wanted it more, the Barako Bull Energy became the first team to conquer Alaska in the Philippine Cup.

Denok Miranda scored 16 points in the first half and then capped a 21-point night with the killer jumper with under a minute left as the Energy, after losing their first five games, picked up a second straight win to remain safely in the playoff picture.

“They (Energy) came out ready to play,” Barako Bull coach Koy Banal said. “We did not do anything extraordinary today, we just made sure that everyone stayed focused and sharp throughout the game.”

The scores:

First Game

BARAKO BULL 85—Miranda 21, Garcia 18, Pascual 12, Lanete 10, Intal 8, Lastimosa 7, Wilson 6, Hubalde 2, Pennisi 1, Salvador 0, Salva 0, Marcelo 0, Paredes 0.

ALASKA 78—Abueva 16, Manuel 15, Casio 13, Hontiveros 8, Jazul 8, Menk 5, Banchero 4, Exciminiano 4, Baguio 3, Thoss 2, Eman 0, Dela Rosa 0, Bugia 0, Dela Cruz 0.

Quarters: 20-18, 49-31, 65-54, 85-78

Second Game

SAN MIGUEL BEER 90—Fajardo 36, Lassiter 16, Lutz 9, Pascual 9, Tubid 8, Fortuna 5, Santos 3, Ross 2, Omolon 2, Mercado 0, Maierhofer 0, Chua 0, Semerad 0.

KIA 74—Cervantes 16, Buensuceso 11, Revilla 9, Webb 9, Custodio 9, Dehesa 6, Burtscher 6, Pascual 4, Ighalo 2, Alvarez 2, Sanga 0, Raymundo 0, Parreno 0, Suguitan 0.

Quarters: 17-16, 39-38, 64-58, 90-74