Beermen stymie FiberXers

MANILA, Philippines -- The San Miguel Beermen exploded in the third quarter and kept their flawless record intact, obliterating the hapless Converge FiberXers, 112-103, in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Trailing by seven points at the half, San Miguel dropped 51 big points in the third quarter compared to Converge’s 20 to turn things around and break the game wide open.

CJ Perez spearheaded the defending champions with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, leading five Beermen in double figures. Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano finished with 19 markers each, with the latter pouring it all in the second half.

The FiberXers led by as much as 12 points, 34-22, early in the second quarter as the cellar-dwellers’ offense clicked.

They continued to keep San Miguel at bay, going up by eight, 52-44, with a layup by Justin Arana.

Lassiter then caught fire.

He scored 17 points in a 25-6 run that turned the competitive contest to a lopsided one, 69-58.

After an Alec Stockton floater halted the run, 60-69, the Beermen unleashed a backbreaking 25-10 blitz to take a 94-70 lead.

Since then, San Miguel never looked back, pushing their cushion to as much as 25 points, 104-79, with a layup by Trollano.

Converge was able to cut the lead to just nine, 112-103, with a 3-pointer by Stockton but it came too late.

With Lassiter's performance, he is just one 3-pointer away from James Yap in the most triples in PBA history. He is currently fifth at 1,193, behind Yap's 1,194, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

Terrence Romeo and June Mar Fajardo added 18 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Beermen.

Stockton notched a new career-high of 36 points while also hauling down six rebounds and four assists.

Justin Arana added 18 markers and four boards.

San Miguel continued to rise with an immaculate 6-0 record. Converge, on the other hand, kissed their playoff hopes goodbye with a 0-8 record.

The Beermen will try to win their seventh straight game when they face the NorthPort Batang Pier on Sunday. The FiberXers will try to finally grab a win against the Meralco Bolts on the same day. Both games will be held at the Philsports Arena.