MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel once again showcased its vaunted depth to secure its place in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals following a 123-93 rout of Blackwater at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, July 27.

Seven players breached twin digits in scoring for the twice-to-beat Beermen after benefitting from a whopping 33 assists as they barely broke a sweat in eliminating the deflated Bossing.

Joining TNT in the semifinals, top seed San Miguel awaits the winner of the best-of-three quarterfinals between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco in the Final Four.

CJ Perez showed the way for the Beermen with 18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the rout that saw his side fire from all cylinders to build a sizable 32-13 after the opening quarter.

Its confidence crushed after its slow start, Blackwater got buried by as deep as 39 points as its promising campaign ended on a whimper with a sixth straight defeat.

Veteran guard Marcio Lassiter also finished with 18 points on top of 4 rebounds, while Jericho Cruz netted 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in his first game back from health and safety protocols.

Making up for lost time after missing back-to-back games, Cruz helped set the tone for San Miguel with a game-high 12 points in the first half.

Best Player of the Conference frontrunner June Mar Fajardo once again delivered all-around numbers of 11 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in the blowout.

Vic Manuel and Mo Tautuaa scored 12 points each and combined for 15 rebounds for the Beermen, while Simon Enciso added 11 points on a 3-of-5 clip from long range.

Aside from spreading the wealth, San Miguel also dominated the boards with a 64-42 rebounding discrepancy.

Rookie sensation Ato Ular put up 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Bossing, whose campaign crashed and burned after a spectacular 5-1 start.

Baser Amer had 13 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, while Barkley Eboña had 12 points and 9 rebounds in the defeat.

The Scores

San Miguel 123 – Lassiter 18, Perez 18, Cruz 17, Tautuaa 12, Manuel 12, Enciso 11, Fajardo 11, Herndon 9, Brondial 6, Pessumal 5, Zamar 4, Ross 0, Canete 0, Faundo 0.

Blackwater 93 – Ular 15, Amer 13, Ebona 12, Sena 11, Ayonayon 11, Suerte 8, Go 8, Casio 5, McCarthy 5, Publico 5, Dyke 2, Escoto 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.

Quarters: 32-13, 63-39, 94-63, 123-93.

– Rappler.com