SMB escapes Ginebra in PBA's Dubai return

June Mar Fajardo got the last laugh over Japeth Aguilar. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--San Miguel overcame a late fight from Ginebra for an 83-81 win in the PBA's first game back in Dubai early Monday (Philippine Time) at the emirate's jampacked Coca-Cola Arena.

The Beermen looked to be on track for the win already as they led, 82-75, with 20 seconds remaining, but Scottie Thompson hit a four-pointer with 11 seconds left that cut the lead down to three.

Kris Rosales, the surprise package for SMB after scoring four straight points that gave the team enough cushion, split his free throws, which kept the lead at one possession.

Japeth Aguilar, who assisted on Thompson's late four, curiously dunked the ball with three seconds left, which cut the lead down to two.

Rosales, though, had his inbound pass picked by Troy Rosario, and RJ Abarrientos rushed to their offensive zone only for him to pass the ball to Thompson, who was not ready to take a long tom and badly missed the game-winning three at the final buzzer.

June Mar Fajardo led SMB, which now won back-to-back games to go up to 2-2, with 17 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.

CJ Perez, Juami Tiongson, and JM Calma each added 10 points.

Aguilar finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks for Ginebra, which dropped to 1-3.