Kraken released

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

There was the slow start and the shaky finish. But with June Mar Fajardo in the middle—literally—of everything, San Miguel Beer managed to pull this one off.

The defending champions held off NorthPort, 113-107, to shore up their drive for a twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Fajardo pounded the Batang Pier with 40 points—a conference high—and 19 rebounds to help preserve the heavy lifting by Terrence Romeo early in the game and hand the Beermen their sixth win in nine outings.

“It was a scary start for us,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria. “We didn’t have a good start. Usually if we have a good start … we’re able to control the tempo of the game. Fortunately, the players’ sense of urgency prevailed.”

Romeo, who finished with 23 points, kept the Beermen in the fight early, when the Batang Pier raced to leads of as many as 14 points.

Fajardo was simply unstoppable as San Miguel stayed in the hunt for the playoff bonus awarded to the top two teams at the end of the preliminaries.

“We’re still on track in achieving our goal, the top two,” said Austria. “It’s still possible.”

NorthPort made a late challenge behind Stanley Pringle and Nico Elorde but eventually dropped to 2-5.

Later in the evening, Barangay Ginebra hung around the game all night before LA Tenorio hit crucial triples, Japeth Aguilar made a lead-saving block and Aljon Mariano capped a strong night with icing free throws to lead the Kings to a 100-97 victory over Phoenix.

Tenorio tied Alvin Patrimonio’s “Iron Man” streak of 596 consecutive games played and made the night even more special by making the big shots to lead the Kings to a 4-3 card.

“The streak is good but what’s more important is we got this victory,” said Tenorio.

Phoenix still leads the league at 8-2 and still has an inside track at the twice-to-beat incentive.