Arwind, June Mar lift Beermen to semifinals

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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Wednesday, March 7, 2018
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MANILA – San Miguel Beermen turned to Arwind Santos in the fourth quarter to score a 106-93 win over TNT KaTropa in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Santos finished with 15 points – 10 coming in the final quarter – for Beermen, which will face the winner of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings-Rain or Shine Elasto Painters series in the best-of-seven semifinals.

June Mar Fajardo led the way with double-double 35 points and 11 rebounds, Marcio Lassiter contributed 20 markers, while Chris Ross chipped in 13 points and seven assists for the three-time defending champion Beermen.

With the scores tied 79-all, Santos spearheaded Beermen’s scoring run midway in the final period with back-to-back triples to build an 88-83 advantage after a trey from Brian Heruela.

KaTropa cut the deficit to 2 points twice but Beermen increased its lead anew with inside conversions from Santos and Fajardo, and built its largest lead 106-93 on two free throws by Heruela.

“Alam naman natin na malakas ang TNT kaya pinaghandaan talaga namin sila,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “That’s why I’m really worried about this team. Mabuti na lang naka-execute kami sa dulo.”

As in the previous encounters between Beermen and KaTropa, players got into each other’s skins several times – like what happened between Santos and KaTropa’s Jericho Cruz in the waning minutes. Santos was ejected while Cruz was slapped with a flagrant foul.

Jayson Castro and Jeth Troy Rosario finished with 19 points apiece, Roger Pogoy contributed 17, while Anthony Semerad and Kelly Williams had 16 and 15, respectively, for KaTropa./PN
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