San Miguel keeps Converge winless, improves to 6-0

Marcio Lassiter overcame a shaky first half performance to ignite a third quarter surge that propelled San Miguel to their sixth consecutive victory, defeating Converge with a score of 112-103 in the PBA Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena.

The Beermen staged an impressive comeback after trailing 43-50 at halftime, exploding for 51 points in the third quarter. Lassiter was instrumental in this turnaround, sinking six consecutive shots in the period, including all five of his three-point attempts, finishing with a total of 19 points.

With key contributions from CJ Perez, Don Trollano, and June Mar Fajardo, SMB extended their lead to 93-68 at one point, ultimately securing a comfortable 104-79 advantage with just over seven minutes left in the game.

Remaining undefeated, San Miguel has all but guaranteed themselves a spot in the quarterfinals, pending further wins in their upcoming elimination round matches. Coach Jorge Gallent emphasized the need to address slow starts, a recurring issue highlighted in previous games against Terrafirma and now Converge, who took an early 34-22 lead.

“Those teams like to start hard, they like to set the pace. Terrafirma and Converge, we played after seven, nine days so the basketball sense was not there, first quarter especially,” explained Gallent.

“When we gathered ourselves, we just played San Miguel basketball.”

Perez nearly achieved a triple-double with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists, while Trollano, who struggled in the first half, finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Terrence Romeo contributed 18 points, 13 of which came in the second quarter to keep SMB in the game, and Fajardo added 14 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Jericho Cruz missed the game due to a left knee contusion.

Converge suffered their 8th consecutive loss and 12th overall since the Commissioner’s Cup, effectively ruling them out of playoff contention. Despite Alec Stockton’s career-high 36 points and Justin Arana’s 18 points, their efforts were in vain against the defending champ’s dominant performance.

The scores:

San Miguel 112 – Perez 25, Lassiter 19, Trollano 19, Romeo 18, Fajardo 14, Teng 4, Brondial 4, Tautuaa 4, Brondial 4, Manuel 2, Ross 0.

Converge 103 – Stockton 36, Arana 18, Santos 14, Caralipio 13, Maagdenberg 6, Nieto 6, Melecio 3, Vigan-Fleming 3, Fornilos 2, Winston 2, Delos Santos 0, Andrade 0, Ambohot 0, Zaldivar 0.

Quarterscores: 20-29, 43-50, 94-70, 112-103.