Santos, Lassiter anchor SMB win over Barako Bull

Games Tuesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – Kia vs Globalport

7 p.m. – Ginebra vs Blackwater

MANILA, Philippines – Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter stepped up with two San Miguel Beer frontcourt players sidelined by injuries, combining for 47 points with 8-of-12 three-pointers as the Beermen trounced the Barako Bull Energy, 103-89, for win No. 3 in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Santos went almost perfect with 10-of-11 field goals, including five triples for 27 points while Lassiter added 20 markers, including three treys as the Beermen, minus Doug Kramer (sprained ankle) and Rico Maierhofer (knee contusion), kept their unbeaten run and rejoined the Alaska Milk Aces atop the leader board.

The Beermen and the Aces dispute the solo lead in a highly anticipated matchup Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

San Miguel needed the spark and firepower from Santos and Lassiter with the Beermen playing relatively sluggish.  

“I was surprise the guys’ energy was too low. Maybe, they’re already thinking of the next game,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“It might also be the effect of the sidelining of Doug and Maierhofer. Usually, my second group sustains the effort of our first group. Minus the two big men, my rotation suffered,” Austria added.

But with Santos and Lassiter delivering more than their usual effort and numbers, San Miguel withstood the challenge of Barako Bull, and handed the Energy a third straight loss.

Junmar Fajardo, averaging 30 minutes in their first two games, played 10 more minutes in this game and churned out a third straight double-double job with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Sol Mercado added 12 while Nelbert Omolon contributed eight, all made in the second half.

Denok Miranda, Carlo Lastimosa, JC Intal, Jeric Fortuna and Chico Lanete produced double-digit outputs for the Energy who dragged the Beermen in a battle through the first 46 minutes of the game.

They were very much in the fight at 87-89 but then scored only a single field-goal basket in the last 1:43 of play.

Down by 12 at 53-65, the Energy banked on clutch plays by Miranda and Fortuna in a crucial blitz at the end of the third quarter, propelling Barako to within two at 68-70.

The Beermen, however, won’t fold up in the end with Santos, Lassiter and Fajardo in there to deliver. The three scored at least eight each in the payoff period.

“Credit goes to (Barako coach) Coy (Banal). He made things tough for us. All the things that I had scouted didn’t happen in this game. They showed up with a different outlook,” said Austria.

Against Alaska, Austria hoped Kramer and Maierhofer would already be ready to return.

“Alaska has been playing well. Our main concern is (Calvin) Abueva. He’s their spark plug,” said Austria.