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| June Mar Fajardo displayed his MVP form despite the challenge of Kylor Kelley. PBA Images |
MANILA—San Miguel held on despite a late barrage of long range shots from Converge for a 103-99 win in their PBA Commissioner's Cup battle on Wednesday night at the Ynares Center 1 in Antipolo.
The Beermen were holding to a 93-88 lead with 2:23 to go when the FiberXers took the risk of going all-Filipino and replacing import Kylor Kelley for Justin Arana.
The gambit worked as four-pointers from Archie Concepcion and Alec Stockton and a triple in between from Balti Baltazar forced a 99-all tie with 39 seconds left.
However, Stockton fouled Don Trollano while trying to stop his mid-range shot with 27 seconds to go, and Trollano made both his free throws to put SMB back up, 101-99.
Stockton tried his luck again from the outside as the shotclock winded down, but his long triple went off the mark, and June Mar Fajardo was all alone for the layup with 3.5 seconds remaining.
With no more timeout left, Converge had no other option but to go for it from way beyond the four-point line, but Baltazar's halfcourt heave just clanked off the rim at the final buzzer.
Fajardo proved his worth against a well-known rim protector in Kelley and led the Beermen, now at 1-1, with 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 17 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Perez added 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, while Marcus Lee showed some improvement from his struggles against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers with 10 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
Baltazar led the FiberXers, who dropped to 1-3, with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 on threes, five rebounds, and one assist.
Kelley added 12 points, 20 rebounds, one assist, and five blocks.
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 103 – Fajardo 27, Perez 24, Trollano 18, Lassiter 11, Lee 10, Tautuaa 7, Miller 4, Rosales 2, Brondial 0, Cahilig 0, Tiongson 0
CONVERGE 99 – Baltazar 19, Stockton 17, Williams 14, Concepcion 13, Kelley 12, Garcia 11, Arana 6, Policarpio 5, Reyson 2, Muyang 0, Santos 0
QUARTERS: 20-25, 42-50, 73-71, 103-99
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