Too bad for the Terrafirma Dyip, import Lester Prosper was out on protocols when they encountered the return of San Miguel ace behemoth June Mar Fajardo.
And just like Bay Area versus the injury-hit TNT squad earlier, Beermen had an easy time romping to a 131-103 win over the Dyip in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig Wednesday.
With Fajardo back, the Beermen showed an even greater determination to push their drive to catch a ticket to the post-elims play.
"The game plan was to go hard, not thinking wala silang import," said assistant coach Jorge Gallent.
The Beermen did go hard as they climbed to sixth spot with a fifth win against the same number of losses.
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Fajardo collected 20 points plus nine rebounds on his return from a throat surgery, complementing Jericho Cruz's 25 markers and Devon Scott's triple-double of 21 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists.
Vic Manuel (20) and CJ Perez (12) had their double-digit outputs as the Beermen closed in on sixth-placer NorthPort (6-5), heading to the last few games of the elims.
The Beermen will try to push their drive harder as they take on TNT and Meralco in their last two outings.
A sweep of those two games will send the Beermen to a best-of-three position in the quarterfinals.
"Gumaan ang lahat dahil nandyan na si June Mar," said Cruz as he also looked forward to the return of Terrence Romeo soon. "Terrence is Terrence, malaki ang maitutulong nya pagbalik nya."
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With Fajardo, Scott and Manuel, the Beermen went unstoppable at the paint against the Prosper-less Dyip.
The Beermen blast the Dyip, 78-30, on points inside the paint.
Juami Tiongson scored 28 points as he took the cudgels for the Dyip, who lost their first game after ending a 25-game losing streak. (SB)
The Scores:
San Miguel 131- Cruz 25, Scott 21, Fajardo 20, Manuel 19, Perez 12, Zzamar 8, Enciso 5, Herndon 5, Ross 4, Brondial 4, Faundo 2, Lassiter 1.
Terrafirma 103 - Tiongson 28, Gomez de Liano 17, Mina 15, Ramos 8, Munzon 8, Camson 7, Javelona 6, Gabayni 5, Alolino 4, Balagasay 3, Grospe 2, Cahilig 0.
Quarters: 29-19, 63-38, 96-67, 131-103
