Clutch Lassiter, Perez treys stun Meralco as San Miguel ties PBA finals at 1-1

MANILA, Philippines – CJ Perez delivered his highest scoring performance of the season and Marcio Lassiter drained a clutch triple as San Miguel escaped Meralco, 95-94, to knot the PBA Philippine Cup finals at 1-1 at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, June 7.

Perez exploded for a playoff career-high 34 points on top of 5 steals and 5 assists as he and Lassiter sank a pair of three-pointers inside the final 25 seconds to help the Beermen avoid a 0-2 hole in the best-of-seven series.

Lassiter scored just 6 points, but he preserved the efforts of Perez by draining the go-ahead triple with under 15 seconds that determined the final score.

Cliff Hodge posted a season-high 25 points to go with 9 rebounds, but his performance went down the drain as the Bolts failed to protect a 93-89 lead with 30 seconds left.

Perez cut their deficit to 92-93 with a quick trey off a timeout before Lassiter gave San Miguel the lead after a fly by move on Bong Quinto.

Meralco still got a chance to regain the lead after that Lassiter shot only to witness Chris Banchero put too much force on his potential game-winning layup.

Fourth quarter

FINAL: CJ Perez misses his two free throws but San Miguel escapes with a 95-94 win
SAN MIGUEL 95-94: Marcio Lassiter fakes and buries the triple with 13 seconds left
MERALCO 94-92: Chris Banchero splits his freebies
MERALCO 93-92: CJ Perez answers with his own triple
MERALCO 93-89: Chris Banchero downs the cold-blooded trey with 25 ticks left
MERALCO 90-89: Bong Quinto floats it in
SAN MIGUEL 89-88: Jericho Cruz finishes
MERALCO 88-87: CJ Perez layup is good
MERALCO 88-85: Bong Quinto drains a pair of pressure-packed freebies with 2:14 left
MERALCO 86-85: Don Trollano completes the fast break
MERALCO 86-83: Don Trollano putback
MERALCO 86-81: Chris Banchero floater over June Mar Fajardo
MERALCO 84-81: June Mar Fajardo 1/2 at the line
MERALCO 84-80: Cliff Hodge shakes off Mo Tautuaa and scores
MERALCO 82-80: Chris Newsome makes his foul shots
80-80: Brandon Bates off the glass
SAN MIGUEL 80-78: Jericho Cruz drains the technical free throw
SAN MIGUEL 79-78: 9-0 run for the Beermen as Mo Tautuaa sinks his free throws
MERALCO 78-77: June Mar Fajardo hook shot
MERALCO 78-75: Mo Tautuaa and-one
MERALCO 78-72: CJ Perez with the lucky roll
MERALCO 78-70: Norbert Torres for three
MERALCO 75-70: Mo Tautuaa splits his free throws
MERALCO 75-69: Brandon Bates scores off a Chris Banchero pass

Third quarter

END OF 3Q: Strong finish to the third quarter as Meralco mounts a 73-69 lead
MERALCO 73-69: June Mar Fajardo one-handed flush
MERALCO 73-67: Norbert Torres with his first points
MERALCO 71-67: Chris Ross bank shot
MERALCO 71-65: Chris Banchero with the easy layup
MERALCO 69-65: Allein Maliksi trey extends an 11-1 run
MERALCO 66-65: June Mar Fajardo 1/2 at the line
MERALCO 66-64: Cliff Hodge posts up CJ Perez and scores
64-64: Chris Newsome buries the corner trey
SAN MIGUEL 64-61: Bong Quinto completes the three-point play
SAN MIGUEL 64-58: Marcio Lassiter hits the long bomb
SAN MIGUEL 61-58: Bong Quinto ends his scoreless drought
SAN MIGUEL 61-56: Cliff Hodge drains his freebies
SAN MIGUEL 61-54: CJ Perez turns a steal to a layup
SAN MIGUEL 59-54: CJ Perez from long range
SAN MIGUEL 56-54: Rodney Brondial sinks the basket plus the foul
54-54: Chris Newsome with the step-through move
SAN MIGUEL 54-52: Chris Newsome 2/2 at the stripe
SAN MIGUEL 54-50: CJ Perez spins and scores
SAN MIGUEL 52-50: Cliff Hodge off a Raymond Almazan drop pass
SAN MIGUEL 52-48: Chris Ross and-one

Second quarter

HALFTIME: Chris Banchero beats the halftime buzzer, but San Miguel still leads, 49-48
SAN MIGUEL 49-46: June Mar Fajardo with the reverse layup
SAN MIGUEL 47-46: Cliff Hodge again
SAN MIGUEL 47-44: Easy deuce for Jericho Cruz
SAN MIGUEL 45-44: Cliff Hodge 1/2 at the line
SAN MIGUEL 45-43: Don Trollano layup
43-43: Cliff Hodge carrying the scoring load for Meralco
SAN MIGUEL 43-41: Kyle Pascual banks it off the glass
SAN MIGUEL 43-39: Don Trollano soars for the fast break layup
SAN MIGUEL 41-39: Don Trollano 2/2 with his charity shots
39-39: Cliff Hodge reverse layup
SAN MIGUEL 39-37: CJ Perez for three
MERALCO 37-35: Chris Banchero makes his foul shots
SAN MIGUEL 36-35: CJ Perez sells the fake for the easy deuce
MERALCO 35-34: Don Trollano converts the June Mar Fajardo dime
MERALCO 35-32: CJ Perez lets it fly from downtown
MERALCO 35-29: Brandon Bates inside off a Raymar Jose pass
MERALCO 33-29: Mo Tautuaa scores off a pick and roll
MERALCO 33-27: Fouled on a three-pointer, Chris Newsome sinks all three free throws
MERALCO 30-27: CJ Perez with another pair of freebies
MERALCO 30-25: CJ Perez 2/2 at the line
MERALCO 30-23: Jansen Rios with his second trey
MERALCO 27-23: Cliff Hodge makes his two free throws
MERALCO 25-23: CJ Perez hits the floater
MERALCO 25-21: Allein Maliksi knocks down a triple

First quarter

END OF 1Q: Jansen Rios beats the buzzer with triple as Meralco takes a 22-21 lead
SAN MIGUEL 21-19: Cliff Hodge banks it in
SAN MIGUEL 21-17: Allein Maliksi drains a pair of freebies
SAN MIGUEL 21-15: Mo Tautuaa scores a layup
SAN MIGUEL 19-15: Anjo Caram from deep
SAN MIGUEL 19-12: Jeron Teng steps back for the jumper
SAN MIGUEL 17-12: Cliff Hodge making his presence felt for Meralco
SAN MIGUEL 17-10: June Mar Fajardo again
SAN MIGUEL 15-10: Cliff Hodge jumper is good
SAN MIGUEL 15-8: June Mar Fajardo short stab
SAN MIGUEL 13-8: Chris Banchero finishes the fast break
SAN MIGUEL 13-6: CJ Perez for three
SAN MIGUEL 10-6: CJ Perez with another layup
SAN MIGUEL 8-6: June Mar Fajardo sinks his foul shots
6-6: June Mar Fajardo ties it off a CJ Perez assist
MERALCO 6-4: CJ Perez 1/2 at the stripe
MERALCO 6-3: Chris Newsome hits
MERALCO 4-3: June Mar Fajardo splits his free throws
MERALCO 4-2: Cliff Hodge underneath
2-2: CJ Perez strong attack
MERALCO 2-0: Chris Banchero flips it in

Starters:

MERALCO: Chris Banchero, Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan, Bong Quinto, Cliff Hodge
SAN MIGUEL: Chris Ross, CJ Perez, June Mar Fajardo, Rodney Brondial, Marcio Lassiter

Preview

If Game 1 is any indication, the Meralco Bolts are no longer heavy underdogs in the PBA Philippine Cup finals.

After pulling off a 93-86 upset over the San Miguel Beermen in the series opener, Meralco shoots for a 2-0 lead in Game 2 of their best-of-seven finals on Friday, June 7, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Going up against a well-rested, powerhouse San Miguel squad led by seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, the Bolts got the job done on the defensive end in Game 1, becoming the first team to hold the Beermen to under 90 points this conference.

Although Fajardo still managed to finish with his usual scoring numbers of 23 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, the Gilas Pilipinas big man was held to only 5 markers in the crucial fourth quarter.

With San Miguel already missing the services of its star guard Terrence Romeo due to a calf injury, Meralco also put the clamps on other key Beermen players such as Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz, who combined for just 14 points on a lowly 5-of-17 field goal clip.

On the offensive side, it was also a collective effort from the Bolts as four players scored in double figures, with Chris Newsome and Chris Banchero leading the way with 18 apiece, followed by 15 each from Bong Quinto and Allein Maliksi.

Still, the Bolts know they still have a long series ahead against the mighty Beermen, who are gunning for back-to-back Philippine Cup titles and a sweep of the two championships in Season 48.

“Winning Game 1 is always a big help, but by no means are we happy or satisfied. It’s just one game,” said Newsome.

“You can look back at our last series against Ginebra, they won Game 1 and we ended up winning the series. It doesn’t necessarily mean because we won Game 1, we won the series. There’s so much work that has to be done.”

Game time is 7:30 pm. – Rappler.com