SAN Miguel Beer weathered Rain or Shine's fiery fightback to carve out a 127-122 win Friday and move on into the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals at the PhilSports Arena.
The Beermen unloaded a 42-point third quarter that gave them momentum to erect as much as a 22-point lead that served as enough of a cushion in the face of the Elasto Painters' spirited uprising inside the last four minutes.
After not letting its win-once advantage go to waste, SMB now waits for the winner of the other quarterfinal pairing between twice-to-beat Barangay Ginebra and NorthPort later in the evening to find out its opponent in the best-of-five semis.
Winning coach Jorge Gallent said the biggest key was the offensive adjustment his team made following a 67-all count at the half and led to a 109-89 bubble entering the final 12 minutes of play.
"We just had to pass the ball and rely on our open shooters," said Gallent.
"In the first half Rain or Shine was clogging the lane and we were forcing ourselves for layups. In the second half we just learned how to kick out the ball and Jericho (Cruz) and the (other) guards did well in shooting those 3s," added Gallent.
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"So great team offense."
Like what he has been doing since coming in three games before, Bennie Boatwright once again led SMB with 41 points on top of 10 rebounds, four assists and a block while Cruz emerged as chief backup with 20 points, 11 of those in the second half.
Also proving to be a big help was Terrence Romeo, who added 13 of his 15 points in the second half, as well as Chris Ross (14 points) and June Mar Fajardo (13 points, 13 rebounds and five assists).
Demetrius Treadwell tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while Rey Nambatac chipped in 16 points to lead Rain or Shine's futile bid to force a decider.
Also spoiled was the celebration for Gabe Norwood, whose triple in the opening period made him the latest member of the league's 5,000 Points Club.
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The E-Painters sure made it interesting after falling behind by as much as 103-125, leaning on Treadwell, Keith Datu (14 points) and Santi Santillan (11 points, eight rebounds) to whittle the deficit before running out of time. (NC)
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 127 - Boatwright 41, Cruz 20, Romeo 15, Ross 14, Fajardo 13, Perez 11, Lassiter 6, Trollano 4, Tautuaa 3.
RAIN OR SHINE 122 - Treadwell 22, Nambatac 16, Datu 14, Nocum 14, Mamuyac 13, Caracut 12, Santillan 11, Clarito 10, Belga 7, Norwood 3.
QUARTERS: 36-32, 67-67, 109-89, 127-122
