MANILA, Philippines – Not even a 23-point lead could prevent TNT from faltering as San Miguel drew first blood in their best-of-3 quarterfinals series with a 121-110 win in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday, July 9. 

Renaldo Balkman delivered the goods for the Beermen with a herculean effort of 36 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, two steals, and two blocks in a game that saw San Miguel overcome a horrendous start. 

The KaTropa looked like they were in for a cakewalk after being comfortably ahead by 23 points, 46-23, in the second quarter. The Beermen, however, slowly chiseled away at the deficit.

Trailing by 17 midway through the 3rd period, 61-78, San Miguel unloaded a 25-10 run, with 10 points coming from June Mar Fajardo, to head into the final frame down by just two, 86-88.

TNT still had the upper hand in the 4th quarter, 106-103, off a Joshua Smith dunk but the Beermen took it up a notch and scored 16 unanswered points en route to the triumph. 

“I have to give credit to my players, naka-focus pa rin sila, ang composure nila andoon and hindi sila nag-give up,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria. 

(I have to give credit to my players, they were focused and they showed composure and they did not give up.) 

“Sabi nila let’s cut it down to 14 or 15 after the first half, and it happened. Maybe because of the experience of this team, alam nila how to get back from that kind of deficit.”

(They said they will cut it down to 14 or 15 after the first half, and it happened. Maybe because of the experience of this team that they know how to come back from that kind of deficit.) 

Fajardo backstopped Balkman with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Marcio Lassiter fired 26 points with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and two steals for San Miguel, which is a win away from returning to the semifinals.

Seven players breached double figures for the KaTropa but those were not enough to end their losing streak against the Beermen dating from last season. 

Smith finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists before fouling out with less than 4 minutes left in the game. 

Roger Pogoy chipped in another 17 points, Kelly Williams had 16 off 4 triples while Terrence Romeo added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the losing cause. 

The Scores:

San Miguel (121): Balkman 36, Fajardo 27, Lassiter 26, Santos 10, Ross 9, Cabagnot 6, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Nabong 3, Heruela 0, Vigil 0

TNT (110): Pogoy 17, Smith 17, Williams 16, Romeo 13, Semerad 11, Castro 10, Trollano 10, Rosario 9, Cruz 5, Taha 2, Golla 0, Garcia 0, Paredes 0, Carey 0, Reyes 0 Tamsi 0

Quarter scores: 21-40, 48-62, 86-88, 121-110

– Rappler.com