Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen shot the lights out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum, blasting the free-falling GlobalPort Batang Pier 109-92 Monday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup. Putting on a shooting exhibition, the Beermen evenly distributed the points among themselves en route to their third straight victory and fifth overall in six matches. The Beermen converted 42 of the 83 shots they took for a red-hot 50.6 percent. Twenty-nine of the 42 shots that went in came from assists, underscoring SMB's solid team effort. The Beermen routed the Batang Pier in second-chance points, 17-9, despite having only a 17-14 edge in offensive rebounds. SMB was also the speedier team, posting a 27-8 edge in fastbreak points. SMB kept a firm grip on solo third in the standings, behind the only two remaining undefeated teams — the leading Talk N Text Tropang Texters (6-0) and second placed San Mig Coffee Mixers (3-0). Six Beermen scored in double figures, three of them posting a double-double. Import Kevin Jones tallied 30 points and 19 rebounds on top of two assists, a steal and a block. Reigning MVP Arwind Santos added 18 points and 10 boards, while starting point guard Chris Ross contributed 12 points and 11 assists. It was the first meeting between the two teams since they swapped their point guards — Alex Cabagnot and Sol Mercado – just days before the start of the Commissioner's Cup. Mercado came off the bench for SMB to finish with 10 points in just 19 minutes of action. In contrast, Cabagnot bled for seven points in 34 minutes. Former Beerman Jay Washington paced GlobalPort with 22 points, including three triples. Import Evan Brock tallied 20 points, 16 boards, five assists and two blocks in 44 minutes of tireless action. Former collegiate standouts RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo added 17 and 13 points respectively in another exercise of futility as GlobalPort stayed winless in six games. The Batang Pier were still in the game in the third quarter as they tied the score twice, the last at 55-all. But that proved to be their last hurrah as the Beermen went on a huge run and never looked back. Game Tuesday: San Mig Coffee vs. Barako Bull.
