League-leading Beermen hold off Bolts

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel ended its 2016 on a high after fending off Meralco, 101-86, to strengthen its hold of the top spot in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Cuneta Astrodome.

The Beermen improved to a league-best 5-1 while the Bolts are at a sorry 2-4 as they absorbed their third straight loss.

San Miguel head coach Leo Austria was pleased with how his team played despite coming off a Christmas break. 

“The game we’ve shown tonight is the game we want to have,” said Austria whose Beermen are on a two-game win streak. “We want to be consistent and if we’re consistent we get good results, so I’m thankful to the players because they were focused.”

Meralco managed to keep three-time MVP June Mar Fajardo at bay with the big man putting up a pedestrian, by his standards, 11-point, 14-board double-double.

It was San Miguel’s perimeter offensive that dealt Meralco the heavy blows with Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot providing the 1-2 punch as they put up 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lead the Beermen.

Chris Newsome led the Bolts with 16 points and 12 rebounds but turned the ball over 11 times.