San Miguel's June Mar Fajardo soars for a shot off Star's Joe Devance as Hotshots Marqus Blakely and Marc Pingris (R) helplessly look on in Sunday night's PBA Governors' Cup match at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen rampaged to their third straight victory with a 100-89 crushing of sister team Star Hotshots on Sunday night in the PBA Governors' Cup. June Mar Fajardo played like the reigning MVP that he is, posting 21 points and 20 rebounds. Import Arizona Reid also showed why he was a former Best Import awardee, leading the Beermen with 29 points. Three other Beermen scored in double-digits. Chris Ross had14 while Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos added 13 and 12 points, respectively. After losing its first two games, SMB now holds a 3-2 win-loss card, good for a share of fifth to sixth place with GlobalPort. The defending champion Star absorbed its third straight defeat after winning its first game to fall into a tie for ninth to 12th place with idle Blackwater, NLEX and Rain or Shine. SMB led by as many as 19 points, cooling off the Hotshots every time they tried to turn the game around. The game was marred by technical fouls called on Santos, SMB coach Leo Austria and Star coach Tim Cone. Santos was eventually ejected from the game early in the fourth quarter after he committed a second technical foul. Reigning Best Import Marqus Blakely led the Hotshots with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Mark Barroca added 15 while James Yap had 11. Barako Bull 105, Meralco 99 Ginebra outcast Joseph Yeo turned into a hero for his new team, the Barako Bull, as he spearheaded a gutsy comeback by the Energy in the final quarter to unplug the Meralco Bolts, 105-99. Nicknamed the “Ninja” for his stealthy moves, Yeo poured 28 points, including five three-pointers, and dished out a team-high six assists coming off the bench. Yeo scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, drilling two pointers and two free throws in the final minute to give the Energy a 105-99 edge with 36 seconds left. The Bolts could not get anything going in the endgame as the Energy roared to their fourth straight victory. The Energy are the only unbeaten team in the 12-team conference, firming up their solo lead. With the win, Barako Bull matched its best start in franchise history, which it last achieved in the 2007 Fiesta Conference when the team carried the Air21 name. Barako Bull's 7'2” American import Liam McMorrow shook off foul trouble to finish with 19 points and a whopping 23 rebounds. RR Garcia added 14 points while Justin Chua and Jake Pascual chipped in 12 apiece. The Energy won after clawing their way back from a 19-point hole in the first half. They finally took the lead in the third quarter where they outscored the Bolts, 34-21, after trailing by 11 at the half. Import Andre Emmett led Meralco with 32 points while Cliff Hodge added 17. But they were the only double-digit scorers for the Bolts who suffered their third defeat in five games to join idle Ginebra at seventh to eighth place in the standings. Games Tuesday: Kia Carnival vs. Blackwater Elite and NLEX Road Warriors vs. Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters.
