San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter helps the Beermen escape the Phoenix Fuel Masters in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–San Miguel battled back from a 16-point rut on Tuesday night to escape Phoenix, 107-104, and get its PBA Commissioner’s Cup campaign off on the right foot.
Marcio Lassiter hit a go-ahead jumper with 2.3 ticks left while June Mar Fajardo came through on the defensive end in the next sequence to seal the comeback win at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.
Lassiter finished with 15 points, his heroics in the crunch preserving the efforts of Andrei Cahilig and Juami Tiongson, who passed their first test in a San Miguel uniform with flying colors by finishing 12 and eight points, respectively.
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CJ Perez topscored the Beermen with 18 while import Quinciy Miller and Don Trollano had 14 points each. Fajardo had eight and 16 rebounds.
Phoenix looked on track to snap its winless start to the conference but had very few answers against the former Terrafirma standouts who got going in the final frame.
Import Donovan Smith had 37 points and 15 rebounds, while Tyler Tio and Jason Perkins both had at least 21 points in the loss that doomed the petrol club to its third loss.
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The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 107 – Perez 18, Lassiter 15, Miller 14, Trollano 14, Cahilig 12, Tiongson 8, Fajardo 8, Cruz 8, Enciso 5, Ross 3, Brondial 2, Tautuaa 0
PHOENIX 104 – Smith 37, Tio 23, Perkins 21, Tuffin 7, Rivero 4, Jazul 4, Garcia 3, Manganti 3, Ballungay 2, Verano 0, Ular 0, Alejandro 0, Camacho 0
Quarterscores: 28-29, 54-49, 71-80, 107-104