MANILA — San Miguel Beer unleashed an 80-point first-half explosion and demolished the Macau Giant Pandas, 131-79, on Saturday night to move within striking distance of the Group A lead in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Rizal.
The Beermen turned the matchup into a rout before halftime, building a massive 43-point cushion en route to their sixth victory in eight games and moving just half a game behind Group A leader NLEX Road Warriors, which holds a 6-1 record.
San Miguel seized control immediately with a 35-20 advantage after the opening quarter before completely overwhelming Macau with a 45-point second-period assault.
The Beermen entered halftime comfortably ahead, 80-37, and showed no signs of slowing down after the break.
San Miguel widened the gap to 111-53 entering the fourth quarter and pushed its lead to as many as 62 points before settling for the 52-point victory.
George King spearheaded the balanced San Miguel attack with 19 points despite seeing action for only 10 minutes.
Celedonio Trollano added 17 points, Jericho Cruz contributed 14 and Jeron Teng finished with 13. Marcio Lassiter and John Michael Calma chipped in 12 points apiece as six Beermen scored in double figures.
Macau, meanwhile, absorbed its sixth loss against only two victories.
Kobey Lam led the Giant Pandas with 24 points, while Damian Chongqui scored 23. Xingzhao Chao added 11 points, while Ramon Cao and Jeffrey Ma contributed 10 apiece.
In the other game, TNT Tropang 5G returned to the winning track with an equally convincing 114-80 demolition of the Titan Ultra Giant Risers.
Jordan Heading powered the reigning champions with 23 points, highlighted by four three-pointers, as TNT improved its record to 4-3.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson supplied 19 points apiece, while Rey Nambatac and Kim Aurin contributed 14 and 12, respectively.
Tirell Brown II paced the Giant Risers with 14 points, while John Bryan Sajonia and Jerrick Balanza scored 13 each. Ato Ular added 10 as Titan Ultra slipped to 2-6./PN
