Beermen rip Texters for 7th straight win; Santos scores 30

Arwind Santos leads Beermen with 30 points, 12 rebounds. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Defending champion San Miguel Beer eased past TNT, 97-84, for its seventh straight win in the 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup Saturday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Arwind Santos scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Beermen, who moved a win away from securing an outright semifinals berth with a 9-1 record.

“They realized the importance of this game. We can use this win against Alaska. In case matalo kami sa kanila may pondo kami,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria.

The Beermen will shoot for the semis bonus on Wednesday against the Alaska Aces in a rematch of last year’s finals.

June Mar Fajardo, the reigning back-to-back MVP, also recorded a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds that went with five blocks while Alex Cabagnot added 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.

TNT pulled to within 10 but San Miguel Beer went on a 10-2 blast capped by Santos’ fourth and final triple that stretched the lead back to 19. 89-71, with 4:45 remaining.

Jayson Castro led the Tropang Texters, who are still searching for some sort of consistency at 5-4, with 20 points but had six turnovers. Troy Rosario came just a rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards.