PBA: Terrafirma comeback falls short anew as SMB pulls off escape

George King reigned over Justin Strings. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Terrafirma once again failed to complete a rally as San Miguel walked out of the Ynares Center 1 in Antipolo with a 109-104 win in their PBA Governors' Cup duel on Saturday night.

This time, though, the Dyip already had the comeback in the bag.

Down by as much as 22, Terrafirma fought back in the second half and took a 104-101 lead with 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter.

However, George King responded well off SMB's timeout, scoring two free throws in the next play and the go-ahead layup off his steal for a 105-104 lead with 39.1 seconds left.

Juami Tiongson and CJ Catapusan missed three-pointers on the other end, but CJ Perez kept the Dyip in the game as he split his free throws with 4.4 seconds left.

Maverick Ahanmisi, though, struggled to inbound the ball, and Perez made up for his costly miss by picking the pass, leading to an unsportsmanlike foul on JM Bravo that helped seal both teams' fate.

King led the Beermen with 37 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block, while Perez added 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals, and one block.

Justin Strings put up 28 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and one block to lead Terrafirma, which fell to 1-3.

Tiongson added 27 points on 11 of 20 shooting, including 5 of 10 on threes, six rebounds, seven assists, and one steal.

Ahanmisi put up 20 points on 8-for-14 shots, seven rebounds, six assists, and one steal.