MANILA, Philippines – Jericho Cruz took advantage of his increased role at San Miguel as the Beermen are missing two of their star guards due to injuries.

San Miguel continues to thrive in the PBA Philippine Cup despite the absences of Terrence Romeo and Chris Ross thanks in large part to the emergence of Cruz, who came up with two big performances against TNT and Blackwater.

Cruz averaged 27.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in those crucial victories to earn the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for the period of July 6 to 10.

Pitted against his former team, Cruz uncorked a career-high 30 points as the Beermen denied the Tropang Giga a sixth straight triumph by way of a 115-99 beating.

Cruz then followed it up with a 25-point outing in a nail-biting 110-107 overtime win over the surging Bossing, who saw their franchise-record-tying four-game winning streak snapped.

Those pair of wins allowed league-leading San Miguel to raise its record to 8-1 and remain at the forefront of the race for the twice-to-beat quarterfinals advantage, which is given to the top two teams after the elimination round.

“Our relationship as a team is excellent. The chemistry is there because we bond on and off the court,” said Cruz, who joined the squad as a free agent in the middle of the Governors’ Cup last season.

Cruz ranks ninth in the league in scoring with an average of 16.9 points and third in the team behind CJ Perez (17.6) and June Mar Fajardo (17.4).

Also nominated for the weekly award were Fajardo, Converge’s Tyrus Hill, Justin Arana, and David Murrell, Meralco’s Aaron Black, and Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang, Jio Jalalon, and Paul Lee. – Rappler.com