With injuries and all, San Miguel Beer is off to a hot start in the import-laced tourney.
And it's not just all about the Beermen's reinforcement.
SMB made it three-of-three so far in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference as it sprinted out of the gate and coasted to a 122-103 victory over erstwhile co-leader Purefoods Tender Juicy Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen were simply mean and unforgiving in their rout of the Giants, their third in a row following earlier victories over the Alaska Milk Aces and the Burger King Titans.
"We came out with a defensive mindset. We stuck with the plan and somehow we caught them in their off-night," said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.
"Not taking anything away from our boys' efforts, pero hindi talaga maka-convert ang Purefoods," Tanquingcen added.
Purefoods suffered its first loss in three games with main man James Yap being the biggest flop with an atrocious 1-of-12 shooting.
He scored only three points, his least output since going scoreless on Oct. 22, 2004 in an 89-87 decision over Sta. Lucia.
Before Friday's game, the one-time MVP winner averaged 26 points, No. 1 in the tourney among locals and No. 5 overall including the imports.
Kerby Raymundo, the other half of the Giants' dreaded one-two punch, was held down to six points in the first half before getting away with 15 in the second half to pace Purefoods with 19.
Purefoods import Brian Hamilton himself was way off from his impressive debut against Talk n Text where he churned out triple-double numbers. The Louisiana-Lafayette U product struggled for 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Beermen.
With a good defense in place against Yap and Raymundo, the Beermen utterly dominated the Giants, leading by as many as 39 points, 83-44, early in the second half.
From there, the best the Giants could do was trim the deficit to what it was in the end.
The Beermen jumped the gun on the Giants, taking the first quarter at 35-21 and the half at 70-39.
SMB had the game all but wrapped up in the first half while shooting 60 percent as against Purefoods' 37.8-percent clip.
The Beermen have gone 3-0 in the tourney, gaining solo leadership minus injured stars Danny Seigle, Lordy Tugade, Danny Ildefonso, Marc Pingris and Mike Cortez.(NC)
The scores:
San Miguel 122 -- Pena 17, Racela 16, Gonzales 15, Washington 14, Pennisi 13, Custodio 11, Hontiveros 11, Freeman 10, Villanueva 9, Calaguio 6, Bono 0, Eman 0.
Purefoods 103 -- Raymundo 19, Hamilton 18, Villanueva 18, Simon 13, Canaleta 9, Allado 7, Vergara 7, Yap R. 6, Yap J. 3, Robinson 2, Alvarez 0, Adducul 0.
Quarterscores: 35-21, 70-39, 99-69, 122-103 |
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