By Dugout Philippines
San Miguel, despite almost squandering a huge margin, added more early woes to Purefoods after winning an 87-80 decision in their PBA Philippine Cup clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Beermen built a 19-point lead, 62-43, midway into the third quarter.
But the Hotshots, who lost by 20 against the Alaska Aces on Wednesday, ignited a 14-2 run later in the period to cut the lead to seven, 64-57.
San Miguel looked to pull away again early in the fourth as the team extended its cushion to 13, 76-63.
But a 13-4 Purefoods run trimmed the advantage to four, 80-76, with 3:21 remaining.
Arwind Santos then made two free throws in the next play to up the lead to six.
After Yousef Taha split his charities, the Hotshots looked to move closer after Mark Barroca got the ball after a loose ball scramble.
But Arwind Santos chased P.J. Simon and blocked his layup as another helter-skelter moment happened.
The Beermen got the ball this time, and Junemar Fajardo scored an undergoal stab to put them back up by seven, 84-77 and never looked back.
Fajardo amassed 22 points and 15 rebounds for San Miguel, which now takes a share of the lead with a 2-0 card.
Playing extended minutes after Ian Sangalang injured his ACL and Marc Pingris is still taking a time off, Taha led Purefoods, which is also minus James Yap due to a calf injury, with 14 points.
Simon, Yap's partner in scoring, also scored 14 markers for the Hotshots, who now dropped to 0-2.
San Miguel 87-Fajardo 22, Tubid 16, Santos 14, Mercado 12, Lutz 9, Kramer 5, Ross 4, Pascual 3, Lassiter 2, Maierhofer 0, Semerad 0, Hubalde 0, Omolon 0, Chua 0
Purefoods 80-Taha 14, Simon 14, Barroca 13, Devance 11, Melton 9, Maliksi 9, Reavis 8, Mallari 2, Alvarez 0, Holstein 0, Yap 0, Gaco 0, Matias 0, Allado 0
Quarterscores: 21-22, 47-33, 66-57, 87-80
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