By Kim Dayos
QUEZON CITY—June Mar Fajardo and the whole San Miguel Beermen steered clear of another letdown as they ousted the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters from the PBA Governors Cup with a 117-110 semifinals Game 4 win on a rainy Wednesday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and arranged a finals slugfest against Philippine Cup foes Alaska Aces.
San Miguel reinforcement Arizona Reid steered the attack for the Beermen finishing with 38 points and 11 rebounds, while Cebuano bigman Junemar Fajardo added 27 points along with his 7 boards.
The game was dictated by San Miguel’s defense in the early goings and led as much as 14 in the second quarter. Rain or Shine tried to close the gap between them and San Miguel but the Beermen had too much in their arsenal, preserving a double-digit lead going into the second half.
Beermen erected a lead by as much as 19 points late in the third quarter but the gritty Elasto Painters relied on their defense and mounted a huge rally, reducing the lead to five, 100-95 with 6:27 left, behind the efforts of bullish import Wendell McKines and Gilas standout Gabe Norwood.
However, much the same as the first half, the Beermen would halt the rally and put up points in succession to give them a comfortable cushion. In the end, San Miguel held off the Elasto Painters and proved to be too much for the Painters to handle.
Meanwhile, this victory marks the entry of San Miguel in the PBA Finals for the second time this season, matched up against Philippine Cup foes Alaska Aces, who pushed them to seven games.
The PBA Governor’s Cup Finals will start this Friday, 7p.m. at Mall of Asia Arena.
Box Scores:
San Miguel 117-Reid 38, Fajardo 27, Santos 15, Lassiter 12, Cabagnot 11, Espinas 6, Ross 5, Lutz 3, Tubid 0
Rain Or Shine 110-McKines 25, Chan 21, Norwood 15, Lee 13, Almazan 9, Quiñahan 8, Jeri. Cruz 7, Tiu 5, Araña 4, Ibañes 2, Belga 1, Uyloan 0
Quarterscores: 31-20, 64-50, 93-74, 117-110
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