Perez on timely assist to Lassiter: ‘Mas tiwala ako sa shooting niya kaysa sa shooting ko’
San Miguel third-year wingman CJ Perez was having a superb offensive game but his timely assist to teammate Marcio Lassiter served as the highlight of the day as the Beermen edged out the Alaska Aces 101-100 in their 2021 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round game at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor Pampanga Wednesday night.
The 2-time PBA scoring champion had a team high 20 points but did not hesitate to pass the ball to an open Lassiter for the corner trey when the game was on the line. And Lassiter did not disappoint as the sharp-shooting Fil-Am made the game-winner to break the hearts of the Aces who needed to win in order to stay in contention for the quarterfinals.
With the Wilfred Uytengsu-owned franchise leading by two, 100-98, the Beermen had drawn a play for 6-time MVP June Mar Fajardo but the defense collapsed on him, forcing the 6-foot-10 Cebuano to swing the ball outside, with the ball reaching Perez and eventually landing at the waiting hands of Lassiter.
“Alam ko nandun si Marcio. Alam ko lagi siyang nasa corner, mas tiwala ako sa shooting niya kaysa sa shooting ko, kaya pinasa ko na lang sa kanya”, the guard from Lyceum of the Philippines University said.
Lassiter finished the game with 13 points including 2-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. Perez, meanwhile, shot 8-of-17 from the field, including 1-of-3 from the three point line. He also added six rebounds and three assists as he led the Beermen to their 7th win in 11 outings good for and 4th seed in the next round.
