Beermen overpower Hotshots, gain playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Junmar Fajardo shook off an accidental hard bump on his right knee by teammate Marcio Lassiter in the third quarter, helping San Miguel Beer make a strong finish for a 101-90 win over Star and an outright playoff berth in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

Returning to the game at the outset of the fourth quarter, Fajardo resumed a dominant performance, sparking the Beermen’s breakaway from a 71-69 tight count en route to their sixth win against a lone defeat in the all-Filipino tourney.

Fajardo wound up with 27 points and 16 rebounds and Arwind Santos had his huge game with 22 markers, seven boards and three assists as San Miguel relegated Star down to 10th place with a 2-6 win-loss record.

In the other game in this Petron Blaze Saturday Special, LA Revilla foiled a three-point shot by Jimmy Alapag at the buzzer as Mahindra upended Meralco, 86-83, to jump to ninth place at 2-5.

Meralco slid deeper down the cellar at 1-7.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine also seeks to formalize playoff entry as it meets Barangay Ginebra in a crucial game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

Globalport (3-3) hopes to go above the .500 mark as it tangles with Blackwater (1-5) at 3 p.m. before ROS (5-1) and Ginebra (4-3) clash at 5:15 p.m.

Revilla and Mike Yee earlier drilled in clutch baskets to keep the Enforcers’ head above water.

Meralco got a chance to force overtime when rookie Chris Newsome intercepted a Mahindra inbound with eight seconds to go.

Revilla, however, had his own defensive gem, staying all over Alapag in the closing seconds to deny the Bolts a game-tying trey.