San Miguel rallies to beat Alaska by 13 in Batangas
Games Today (Philippine Arena, Bulacan) 4:30 p.m. – Blackwater vs NLEX 6:45 p.m. – Ginebra vs Meralco
Marcio Lassiter scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and defending champion San Miguel rallied from 15 points down to pull away for a 109-96 victory over Alaska last night and regain the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Lassiter hit two triples and made a pair of jumpers during the payoff period, all of them came in timely manner when the Beermen broke away from a 74-71 lead after three quarters and with five minutes left after the Aces closed in at 84-79 on a Carl Bryan Cruz triple.
Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Yancy de Ocampo, Chico Lanete and Brian Heruela played the supporting cast for Lassiter in the fourth, enabling San Miguel to re- deem itself from last week’s 106-96 loss to Blackwater and overtake Magnolia for top spot at 7-2.
It also boosted San Miguel’s quest to secure a twice-to-beat advantage after erasing Alaska’s 46-31 second quarter lead in the Petron Saturday Special.
Chris Ross topscored for San Miguel with 24 points while adding nine assists and four steals, Arwind Santos had 21 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks, June Mar Fajardo posted 17 points and 18 rebounds and Ganuelas-Rosser scored 11.
Jvee Casio had 20 points and Sonny Thoss made 15 points and seven rebounds but Alaska fell to fourth place at 6-4, all but out of the running for a twiceto-beat bonus.
Ross 24, Lassiter 21, Santos 21, Fajardo 17, Ganuelas-Rosser 11, De Ocampo 6, Lanete 4, Heruela 3, Vigil 2, Semerad 0, Pessumal 0. Casio 20, Thoss 15, Racal 13, Manuel 13, Pascual R. 9, Enciso 9, Abueva 7, Cruz 6, Exciminiano 4, Potts 0, Pascual J. 0. Quarters: 16-26; 41-50; 74-71; 109-96.