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| George King reigned anew for San Miguel in just 11 minutes. PBA Images |
MANILA—San Miguel set a PBA record for a halftime lead before ripping Macau by 52 points, 131-79, in their Saturday night duel at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rodriguez, Rizal.
One night after Magnolia seemingly got refueled by a rain delay to blow Meralco out in the fourth quarter, its sister team somehow had a similar case.
The Beermen, who also had to wait for a few minutes after heavy rainfall also caused some leakage at the roof of the said arena, found their footing after the long break, pulling away late in the first quarter and the entire second quarter for an 80-37 halftime advantage, the largest lead after the first half in league history.
PBA fans entertained the thought of SMB setting the new record for the most lopsided outcome when the team stretched its lead to as high as 62 points 119-57 with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter.
The league's winningest franchise was still on track to eclipse Rain Or Shine's 56-point beating of Blackwater last conference with a 57-point cushion 131-74 with 100 seconds remaining.
However, two free throws from Damian Chongqui and a three-pointer from Kobey Lam kept the old PBA blowout record intact.
George King led six Beermen in double figures with 19 points on 8-for-11 field goals alongside two rebounds and one assist in just a shade below 11 minutes.
Don Trollano added 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 6 from long range, three rebounds, six assists, and two steals as they moved up to 6-2, a half-game behind the NLEX Road Warriors for first place in Group A.
Lam had 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one block, while Chongqui added 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists for the Giant Pandas, who missed out on creating some separation from the Titan Ultra Giant Risers and fell into a tie with them at the bottom of the said group at 2-6.
Ramon Cao and Jeffrey Ma each tallied 10 markers, with the latter also grabbing 10 caroms.
Macau only played with eight men, and Jenning Leung and De'Vondre Perry were noticeably absent.
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