San Miguel jackhammers NLEX; Yap, Lee face former teams

Alex Cabagnot of the San Miguel Beermen. PBA IMAGES

Using a hot start to bury the enemy early, San Miguel Beer last night returned to defending champion’s form and mangled NLEX, 106-80, in a Petron Saturday Special game to seize the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations.

Before a huge crowd at Xavier University gym in Cagayan de Oro City, the Beermen hit 7 of 11 triples in the opening frame and 10 for the first half to open up a 60-37 lead heading into the third and seal a third straight win in a 4-1 card.

After being pushed to the wall by lowly Mahindra last week and winning by just three, the Beermen came out with all guns cocked and firing and left the Road Warriors eating their dust as NLEX, after a season-opening win, slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat.

Alex Cabagnot hit three triples in the first quarter and San Miguel dropped a total of 18 on the hapless NLEX perimeter defense.

Cabagnot finished with 18 points, reigning three-time MVP June Mar Fajardo had 15 and 12 rebounds and Arwind Santos chipped in with 15 and eight. RR Garcia came off the bench and hit all of his 12 points in the first two periods.

Meanwhile, Star slugs it out with Rain or Shine at 4:30 p.m. while Alaska tangles with crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra later in the evening as action shifts back to Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

Paul Lee and James Yap, traded for each other in the offseason, will be facing their old squads for the first time.

“We just hope that Paul (Lee) is the one who plays with a lot of overeagerness,” said new Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.