MANILA, Philippines – The San Miguel Beermen secured their seat in the quarterfinals and prevented a monumental upset against Kia Picanto following a tight 118-112 win in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena Saturday.

Down by as much as 6 points entering the fourth quarter, 78-84, San Miguel banked on main man June Mar Fajardo who dropped 20 of his 41 points in the quarter alone. 

Fajardo, who also logged in 17 rebounds, did most of the heavy lifting in the last frame as he helped the Beermen take a 99-95 lead by scoring nine in San Miguel’s 11-6 run.

Kia kept the game close until the last few minutes with crucial baskets from Geron Johnson, Mark Yee and Jackson Corpuz but to no avail.

“Ugly game for us dahil everybody expected us to do well,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria. “Wake up call for us na we can’t take any team for granted kasi every team is trying to beat San Miguel. The entire game, naghahabol kami pero basta nanalo kami, okay na samin.” (We were trailing the entire game but we will take the win.)

Kia held a 5-point lead at the end of the second quarter behind Johnson’s 22 first half points, 50-45, and maintained it until the third frame as Philip Paniamogan buried 3 straight treys which put Picanto up by 11, 67-56, their largest lead of the game.

Johnson dropped a game-high 42 points on top of 10 rebounds and 8 assists but committed 10 turnovers throughout. 

It was a well-rounded performance for San Miguel as 5 other Beermen also scored in double figures with Marcio Lassiter and Terrence Watson chipping in 16 apiece.

San Miguel is currently tied with TNT Katropa with a 6-3 card while Kia still could not find its rhythm as it remained winless in 10 games.

Scores:

San Miguel (118): Fajardo 41, Lassiter 16, Watson 16, Ross 15, Santos 15, Cabagnot 11, Espinas 2, Tubid 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Heruela 0, Pessumal 0, Reyes 0 

Kia (112): Johnson 42, Yee 18, Corpuz 15, Paniamogan 14, Celda 9, Elorde 7, Salva 3, Ballesteros 2, Camson 2, Deutchman 0, Jaime 0,  

Quarter scores: 25-25, 45-50, 78-84, 118-112. – Rappler.com