THREE cheers for San Miguel Beer for its post-Christmas Day work against Terrafirma.
The Beermen overpowered the Dyip, 100-88, to storm to their third straight win in the Season 46 PBA Governors' Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Terrence Romeo exploded with 23 points, including 11 in the opening stanza, to spark the Beermen to the 12-point romp in one of the offerings in the PBA's "Season of Joy" Yuletide Special supported by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Import Brandon Brown matched Romero's scoring output, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists in a bounceback performance from his 12-point production last time.
CJ Perez (17 markers and eight rebounds) and Vic Manuel (14 and eight) were also solid as SMB foiled the upset plans of the Dyip (1-4), who were looking to repeat their 110-104 overtime reversal in the last Philippine Cup in Bacolor.
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"We made a lot of sacrifices during the holidays because we were down, 0-2, and it's hard to climb back from that with most of the teams preparing hard," said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
"I commend the players for recognizing the importance of our next games after we lost two consecutive and doing something about it," he added.
Juami Tiongson rifled in 21 markers spiked by five triples, continuing his hot shooting touch from their previous All-Filipino upset, where he bombed SMB with 28.
Tiongson spearheaded the Dyip's fourth-quarter rally, dropping 11 as the squad threatened to within 88-94 after trailing by as many as 23.
Import Antonio Hester shot 19 for Terrafirma, which fell to its third straight setback amid absence of injured mainstays Alex Cabagnot, Roosevelt Adams and Reden Celda.
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SMB also missed its ace playmaker Chris Ross, who is expected to return to the fold after the yearend break after attending to personal matters in the US.
"Talagang nami-miss namin siya. Fortunately, when somebody's out of the lineup, nag-i-step-up yung players, especially Terrence. He is playing well not only as a scorer but as a point guard," Austria said of Romeo, who also posted four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Romeo scored 11 in the first period as the Beermen raced to an early 13-point margin. The Dyip pulled back to within three at 40-37 in the second period but Romeo and Brown restored a fresh nine-point cushion for SMB.
After the break, Brown banged in 12 to power the Beermen to a 29-21 third-quarter salvo to widen the gap to 77-58. (OL)
The Scores:
San Miguel Beer 100 - Romeo 23, Brown 23, Perez 17, Manuel 14, Fajardo 11, Lassiter 8, Enciso 2, Tautuaa 2, Pessumal 0, Zamar 0.
Terrafirma 88 - Tiongson 21, Hester 19, Calvo 9, Daquioag 8, Cahilig 7, Ramos 7, Gabayni 4, Camson 4, Pascual 4, Rosser 3, Batiller 2.
Quarterscores: 27-18, 48-37, 77-58, 100-88.
