Beermen, Hotshots gain semis

Game tomorrow (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

7 p.m. – Magnolia vs Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines — With June Mar Fajardo doing June Mar Fajardo things and never missing, reigning champion San Miguel Beer unleashed its full might on TNT KaTropa and romped off with a convincing 96-86 rout to book a trip to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The five-time MVP asserted himself early on, banging in 10 as the hot-starting Beermen stormed to a 25-10 upperhand and kept pounding on the embattled KaTropa for the next three periods of the quarterfinal rubbermatch to complete their march to the Last Four versus top seed Phoenix Pulse.

Later in the night, Magnolia completed a comeback from a 0-1 series deficit with an 85-72 disposal of Barangay Ginebra to secure entry into the semis against Rain or Shine.

Paul Lee sparked a searing 20-4 windup in the third canto as the Hotshots broke away to a 70-50 cushion that set the tone for the masterful clincher in front of a 11,147-strong crowd.

Lee dropped 13 of his game-high 25 in the game-changing third period to lead the Hotshots, who sustained the momentum from their series-tying 106-77 rout in Game Two.

Fajardo tallied 32 markers in 33 minutes of action, posting a perfect 11-of-11 field clip, and adding 14 rebounds as he and frontcourt partner Christian Standhardinger (17 markers and nine boards) anchored SMB’s 56 markers inside the paint.

“The key here is defense and self motivation,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

“We’ve been criticized before about our defense but I think the game showed what San Miguel defense is,” he added, citing their defensive effort that held TNT to 36 percent shooting overall and a meager 10 points in the first quarter.

“The players were self-motivated. They know TNT will go all out and they just refused to lose knowing how important this game is. You can see in their eyes that they want to win,” added Austria.

Their title defense in jeopardy, the Beermen came out firing and seized a 13-3 head start in the first six minutes, extending this to a 15-point edge after the first canto and further widening the gap to 26 at intermission, 53-27.

“This is one of the few times we had a good start. I told them if we start strong, everything will be fine and then we’ll play smoothly going to the fourth,” said Austria.

Roger Pogoy fired a team-high 16 points for TNT, which could only think about what might have been had they not suffered a late-game meltdown and conceded Game One, 78-80.

Notes: Before the twin KO matches, the PBA offered a minute of silence and prayer to the late referee Guillermo Tangkion. The veteran game official collapsed during a referees’ workout last Tuesday and died at the hospital. He was 47. Tangkion’s death happened while the league was celebrating its 44th anniversary.

The scores: 

First Game

San Miguel 96 – Fajardo 32, Standhardinger 17, Romeo 11, Cabagnot 8, Ross 8, Santos 7, Lassiter 6, Tubid 5, Rosser 2, Pessumal 0, Zamar 0.

TNT 86 – Pogoy 16, Heruela 10, Castro 10,  Taha 10, Rosario 10, Williams 9, Bono 6, Reyes 5, A. Semerad 4, Trollano 2, Washington 2, Casino 2, Carey 0, D. Semerad 0.

Quarterscores: 25-10, 53-27, 77-55, 96-86

Second Game

Magnolia 85 – Lee 25, Barroca 13, Ramos 11, Sangalang 10, Reavis 6, Jalalon 6, Brondial 5, Dela Rosa 4,  Melton 3, Herndon 2.

Ginebra 72 – Chan 17, Aguilar 16, Devance 12, Slaughter 9, Mercado 8, Tenorio 5, Thompson 3, Dela Cruz 2, Ferrer 0.

Quarterscores: 20-23, 42-37, 70-50, 85-72