San Miguel bows to Phoenix in preseason meet
San Miguel dropped its second straight game in the Phoenix Super Basketball Tourney, Wednesday morning at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Pasig City.
Just days after absorbing a 103-97 drubbing at the hands of the NLEX Road Warriors, the Beermen received an 18-point beating from Matthew Wright and the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters, 108-90.
Up by just 2 points during the halftime break, 41-39, the Louie Alas-mentored squad turned on the heat in the 3rd quarter and outscored the defending Philippine Cup champs, 34-23, to establish a 13-point advantage going into the final frame.
A three-pointer by back-up guard Paul Zamar cut the deficit to 9 points, 79-70, with 9:44 remaining on the game clock but that proved to be the team’s last hurrah as the Fuel Masters dropped a crippling 23-7 bomb to put the game away for good.
“Actually hindi mo naman pwedeng gawing basis ito for the next conference but at least, sabi ko, something positive happened after the bad loss against Alaska,” said Alas after the tune-up match.
Matthew Wright paced the Fuel Masters with 19 points while Jason Perkins and Justin Chua added 17 and 15 markers, respectively. Former Beerman Jayr Reyes contributed 13 points while Jorey Napoles finished with a double-double of 11 points and 12 boards.
Arwind Santos led the Beermen with 17 points while Chris Ross had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Mo Tautuaa topped the team in rebounds with 9 but could only manage 5 points on a measly 1-of-8 shooting from the field. Zamar, Russel Escoto and Terrence Romeo chipped in 10, 9 and 8 markers , respectively.
The Beermen wrap up the preseason tourney against the Alaska Aces on Friday, February 21 at the same venue.
The scores:
Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters 108 – Wright 19, Perkins 17, Chua 15, Reyes 13, Napoles 11, Jazul 9, Intal 8, Heruela 6, Tansingco 5, Rios 5, Marcelino 0, Garcia 0.
San Miguel Beermen 90 – Santos 17, Ross 14, Zamar 10, Escoto 9, Romeo 8, Gamalinda 6, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Pessumal 5, Tautaaa 5, Mamaril 4, Cabagnot 3, Comboy 3.
Quarterscores: 22-17, 41-39, 75-62, 108-90.
