MANILA, Philippines -- It was not always pretty but the defending champions San Miguel Beermen nevertheless managed to defeat the Mahindra Floodbuster, 94-91, in their PBA All-Filipino Cup showdown on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Behind another double-double from reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo, the Beermen improved to 3-1 in the conference to earn a share of the lead along with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Mahindra, losers of three straight heading into Sunday's game, did not make it easy as they led by as much 13 points in the first half and refused to go down easily in crunch time against a more talented SMB side.
"I think this is a good lesson for us. We cannot underestimate any team in the PBA right now because everybody is competitive. We're lucky at nanalo pa rin kami dito," said SMB head coach Leo Austria, who nevertheless added that a win is a win no matter the margin of victory.
Fajardo finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds, his fourth double-double in as many games. Arwind Santos, playing in his 500th PBA game, had 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and six blocks.
The Beermen got off to a shaky start, and Mahindra led by as much as 13 points multiple times in the first half, the last at 36-23 after a three-pointer from Rey Guevarra. San Miguel worked their way back behind Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot, who made two free throws to make it a one-possession game, 34-36, with five minutes left in the first half.
SMB surged ahead in the third quarter, thanks to back-up guard RR Garcia, who had seven points in the frame, including a three-pointer that made it 69-64 with less than a minute left. His lay-up at the 31.9 mark gave the Beermen a five-point cushion, 71-66, heading into the fourth.
But the young Mahindra squad, in search of its first win, would not go away quietly. Rookie Joseph Eriobu shone in the final quarter where he scored 11 of his 17 points, including back-to-back lay-ups to tie the game at 82 with four minutes left.
The game was knotted at 85 with 2:36 to go after Mallari's split at the line, then Eriobu proceeded to give Mahindra its last taste of the lead as he knocked down a desperation triple to beat the shot-clock buzzer, putting the Floodbuster on top, 88-85, with 1:53 to play.
As he has done throughout his young career, Fajardo came to SMB's rescue in crunch time. He tipped in Marcio Lassiter's miss to cut the lead to one, and then grabbed an offensive rebound off another Lassiter brick, drew a foul, then converted both free throws for an 89-88 lead with 56.2 seconds remaining.
Mahindra still had its chances after Santos split his charities off a foul by LA Revilla, but Eriobu was not as lucky this time around as he badly misfired on a jump shot with 23.7 seconds to go. Cabagnot made two clutch free throws for a 92-88 advantage, but Mallari cut the lead to one point, 91-92, with a gutsy lay-up with still 6.5 seconds to go.
Two more free throws by Santos pegged the final score, as Mallari's heave misfired as the buzzer sounded.
"Next time, we cannot afford to have a game like this, so complacent," said Austria. "Maybe because we have a lot of distractions in our team because of some injuries and lack of rest sa mga players."
"But I hope sa next few games, maka-recover na ang team namin," he added.
Cabagnot finished with 15 points for the Beermen, who shot 41% from the field and helped their cause by making 21 of 27 free throws and tallying 10 blocked shots.
Mahindra dropped to 0-4 and remain the only winless team in the conference.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 94 - Fajardo 28, Santos 18, Cabagnot 15, Tubid 10, Garcia 9, Lassiter 8, Ross 4, Espinas 2, Agovida 0, Reyes 0, McCarthy 0, De Ocampo 0.
MAHINDRA 91 - Mallari 21, Eriobu 17, Revilla 15, Escoto 10, Yee 8, Ballesteros 5, Digregorio 3, Guevarra 3, Teng 3, Paniamogan 2, Salva 2, Arana 2, Celda 0, Webb 0.
Quarter scores: 26-15, 47-49, 71-66, 94-91
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