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| Chris Standhardinger quickly shrugged off the jet lag to put up a career game for the Beermen. PBA Media Bureau |
By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--Chris Standhardinger was the first to exit the arrival area at the NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay when Gilas Pilipinas returned home on Saturday night after its stint in the Asian Games in Jakarta.
Standhardinger begged off from an interview with reporters who were present at the said airport and simply said that he was rushing to the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to catch his mother club, San Miguel, in action in its PBA Governors' Cup debut.
However, no one thought the rookie big guy would do more than just merely watching his team.
Standhardinger, although coming in a bit late, suited up for the Beermen and put up a career game to help them take a 125-112 win against the NLEX Road Warriors.
Following back-to-back 27-point outings for the national team against Japan and Syria, the six-foot-eight forward fired 36 points, his biggest output as a PBA player, on 14-of-17 shooting along with 11 rebounds, one assist, and three steals as SMB erupted for 36 points in the second quarter and 33 more in the third to pull away from NLEX.
AZ Reid made 30 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and one block in his return game for the Beermen.
Alex Cabagnot showed Coach Yeng Guiao, who also rushed to the arena to watch his Road Warriors play, that he did not err in inviting him to Gilas' practice for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers by putting in 23 points, six boards, nine dimes, and two steals for the Beermen.
Aaron Fuller also put up 36 markers for NLEX, but he needed 30 shots for it, although he also put up 16 boards, five assists, two interceptions, and two blocks.
Kenneth Ighalo and Mike Miranda each chipped in 16 markers with the latter going 6-for-6 from the field.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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