MANILA – San Miguel Beermen leaned on a huge third quarter rampage to eliminate NLEX Road Warriors, 101-94, in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Christmas Day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Down 47-53 after two quarters, the reigning champions Beermen went on a 32-19 scoring in the third period behind June Mar Fajardo and Jaymar Perez to seize a 79-72 advantage.
San Miguel Beer’s lead reached double digits at 95-84 late in the fourth quarter. NLEX made their last push at 94-97 but free throws by Fajardo and Celedonio Trollano sealed the win for the Beermen.
Fajardo finished with a double-double of 26 points and 23 rebounds, Jericho Cruz added 18 markers, while Trollano and Perez had 17 and 14, respectively, for the Beermen.
Robert Bolick Jr. paced the Road Warriors with 31 points, while JB Bahio and Dominick Fajardo added 10 markers apiece.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings banked on a career game by Rhon Jay Abarrientos to score a 105-85 victory over Converge FiberXers to stay alive in the quarterfinals.
Abarrientos, the reigning PBA Rookie of the Year, finished with 35 points, including six three-point conversions, to go with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals as the Gin Kings stretched the series to a winner-take-all game on Sunday.
The former Far Eastern University Tamaraws standout heated up late in the third quarter as the Gin Kings turned a 41-42 halftime deficit to a 70-64 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Abarrientos carried over his outside sniping in the final quarter to prevent the FiberXers’ uprising and pushed the Gin Kings to its biggest lead of 105-85 on a basket by Benedict Adamos.
Japeth Aguilar added 16 markers, Earl Scottie Thompson tallied a triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, while Stephen Holt and Jeth Troy Rosario had 11 and 10, respectively, for the Gin Kings./PN
