JORDAN Adams marked his return to the San Miguel Beer fold by scoring 49 points in a 139-127 win over Phoenix Super LPG Friday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Subbed by Sheldon Mac the last time the Beermen played, Adams wasted no time showing he deserved to stay by powering the team to as much as a couple of 20-point leads that set it up for a second straight win and a 5-2 record in Group B.
"Most important, we got the win. I just went out there and played hard, just try and get the win for my teammates," said Adams, who also had 11 rebounds and three assists while highlighting his performance with a pair of four-pointers.
Winning coach Jorge Gallent was obviously pleased with Adams' performance, but also pointed out that the Mac experiment had to be tried out first.
"We talked to Jordan about it, we just wanted to try... other guys," he related.
Sponsored content: "Unfortunately, it backfired. Sheldon Mac played well against NLEX but we decided again to bring Jordan back. So it was great," added Gallent. "But what's nice about Jordan, he was professional enough to stay with us and to play with us again."
For his part, Adams said there was no sulking of any sort when informed he had to sit the NLEX game out last Wednesday, when Mac scored 16 points in SMB's 119-114 win.
"I just had to stay ready. They told me to stay ready, you never know what could happen, so that's my job as a professional, to stay in the gym and be ready for when my name will be called," said Adams.
It was not just Adams who shone for SMB in dealing Phoenix a seventh loss in as many games and practically out of the race for quarterfinals seats.
CJ Perez added 23 points, June Mar Fajardo tallied a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds while going a perfect 10-of-10 from the field, and Marcio Lassiter laced a 16-point performance with four triples that moved him just another four more from passing Jimmy Alapag's 1,250 total for No. 1 in the all-time list of 3s made.
Sponsored content: Brandone Francis did not do so bad himself with 48 points but lucked out in local support as only Jason Perkins (18 points), Raul Soyud (12 points) and Ricci Rivero (11 points) were the other double-digit scorers for Phoenix.
Despite the discrepancy, the Fuel Masters put up a gallant stand, overcoming an early 12-point deficit and even briefly taking the lead at 48-43 in the second period.
It's just that SMB's firepower was simply overwhelming with the likes of Don Trollano and Mo Tautuaa helping to stretch the lead to as much as 108-88. (NC)
The Scores :
SAN MIGUEL 139 -Adams 49, Perez 23, Fajardo 22, Lassiter 16, Cruz 9, Trollano 8, Romeo 5, Tautuaa 4, Ross 3, Rosales 0, Brondial 0, Manuel 0, Teng 0.
PHOENIX 127 - Francis 48, Perkins 18, Soyud 12, Rivero 11, Muyang 9, Tio 8, Salado 6, Jazul 5, Tuffin 5, Ballungay 3, Alejandro 2, Ular 0, Daves 0, Garcia 0, manganti 0, Verano 0.
QUARTERS: 32-29, 67-55, 103-88, 139-127
