Depleted Beermen survive Batang Pier

MANILA, Philippines - Minus injured starters Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross, San Miguel Beer took sometime to establish offensive rhythm and go on  repulse Globalport, 102-99, in the PBA PLDT Home Telpad Governors Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

Junmar Fajardo collected 27 rebounds, 26 points and four blocks while Reggie Williams churned out 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Beermen who needed to overhaul a 17-point deficit to frustrate the hardluck Batang Pier and move back in strong contention for the Top Four with a 4-2 win-loss record.

Barangay Ginebra played aggressively after being dragged to a 33-all standoff in the first half, making a remarkable 22-0 run to highlight a final-half surge that carried the Kings to a runaway 98-70 win over the Barako Bull Energy Cola later in the night.

Bouncing back from a 90-102 loss to San Mig Coffee the last time, the Kings forced a three-way tie in the lead with the Mixers and the Talk n Text Tropang Texters at 4-1.

Meanwhile, Air21 fights to keep its spot in the upper half of the chart while Meralco tries to move out of the cellar with a second straight win as the two teams slug it out tonight at resumption of action at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Alaska Milk and Rain or Shine, meanwhile, mix it up in the day’s other game, both trying to hit the .500 mark with a third win against the same number of losses.

The Express and the Bolts play at 5:45 p.m. then the Aces and the Elasto Painters face off at 8 p.m.  

Squandering a huge lead for the second straight game, the Batang Pier slid deeper down the chart with a 1-4 slate.

It’s another heartbreaker for the Batang Pier after an 82-92 loss to the San Mig Coffee Mixers where they blew away a 20-point spread.

The Batang Pier found it hard to stop the Beermen as Fajardo and Williams finally got into the groove in the second half.

Arwind Santos, finishing with 18 markers, also stepped up in the last two quarters as the Beermen shook off a sluggish start and bucked the absence of their lethal backcourt partners Lassiter and Ross.

“Credit to coach Pido (Jarencio) they came out ready to play and we’re not,” said San Miguel Beer consultant Todd Purves.

“I didn’t expect to play catch-up but I expected a very close game. We had to make some strategic adjustments,” Purves also said.

To counter San Miguel’s height advantage, the Batang Pier came out playing up-tempo basketball and led by 17 points at 57-40 late in the second quarter.

Dior Lowhorn was unstoppable early on, piling up 24 points as against Williams’ three in the first 24 minutes of action.

But making the right adjustments in their halftime huddle, the Beermen charged to within three, 61-64, in the first four minutes of the third period.

The Beermen eventually surged ahead, 98-91, on a telling 11-to-nothing run by Williams, Fajardo and Sol Mercado in the fourth quarter, and held on to notch the crucial win.

Missed free throws by Santos in the last eight seconds actually opened an opportunity for the Batang Pier to force overtime. But Santos himself hounded Terrence Romeo, leaving no room for a decent attempt by the Globalport rookie in the dying seconds.