June Mar Fajardo
CARRYING momentum of a tremendous come-from-behind win two nights ago, San Miguel Beer seeks a commanding 2-0 lead against Rain or Shine today in their best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Governors’ Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. with the Beermen seeking to start out stronger than the last time out and avoid falling into a huge hole.
Rain or Shine enjoyed leads of as large as 24 points in the series opener on Thursday but eventually dropped a 101-95 decision after going scoreless in the final 4:40.
San Miguel is seeking to reach a title series for the second time this season and win a second crown after ruling the Philippine Cup in a classic seven-game series against Alaska.
Incidentally, the Aces were also seeking a 2-0 lead in their half of the Final Four against defending champion Star at press time last night.
San Miguel got all five of its starters shooting 10 points or more with three players finishing with double-double efforts last Wednesday.
June Mar Fajardo, the leading MVP and Best Player of the Conference candidate, will be the main man on both ends for the Beermen, with Arizona Reid their first offensive option.
Reid scored 22 points and Fajardo 20, and the duo got a lot of help from Marcio Lassiter, who exploded for 22 points.
Rain or Shine was very fluid in the early going but sputtered when it mattered.
Paul Lee waxed hot but he was not on the floor when the Beermen made their surge.
Alex Cabagnot was a big factor for the Beermen in Game 1 and more or less negated Lee.
“Finally, we saw his true worth,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said of Cabagnot, who finished with 15 points and eight assists.