San Miguel overcomes Meralco fightback in PBA 50th Anniversary clash

San Miguel Beermen star June Mar Fajardo against the Meralco Bolts. Photo from PBA Images.

MANILA (UPDATED) — The San Miguel Beermen weathered the comeback efforts of the Meralco Bolts in their PBA 50th Anniversary clash on Wednesday.

With both teams parading retro flavor through their throwback jerseys, San Miguel Beer moved past Meralco, 110-98, during their Season 49 Philippine Cup clash at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

June Mar Fajardo starred for the Beermen anew, putting up 28 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists to help his squad improve to 2-0, while CJ Perez top scored with 29 markers, five boards, four dimes, and two steals.

"They were able to cut the lead, but because of our experience, especially June Mar, they know how to deal with those kinds of situations," said SMB head coach Leo Austria after the game. 

"We also know that this is also a historic event, but besides that, this is All-Filipino, so we want to redeem ourselves," he added.

Also among those who helped San Miguel do this were Jeron Teng who contributed 11 points, three rebounds, and a steal, and Rodney Brondial who provided strength with a nine-point, nine-rebound game on top of a steal, an assist, and a block.

Through the efforts of Kurt Reyson, Meralco crawled back from double digits and got to as close as two, 77-75, early in the fourth, but Kris Rosales fired a huge three-pointer to reproduce a five-point SMB lead.

A few plays later, Fajardo slammed the ball while Perez drained a three-pointer, and this allowed San Miguel to not only push their advantage to eight, 89-81, but also eventually slam the door on the Bolts.

Reyson finished with 14 points off the bench for Meralco, while Chris Newsome led the Bolts’ charge by scoring 27 and delivering seven assists and four rebounds.

Unfortunately, for the Luigi Trillo-led squad, they absorbed their first loss in three games.

The Scores:

San Miguel 110– Perez 29, Fajardo 28, Teng 11, Brondial 9, Lassiter 8, Tiongson 7, Rosales 7, Tautuaa 6, Trollano 5, Cahilig 0.

Meralco 98 – Newsome 27, Reyson 14, Black 12, Jose 12, Hodge 10, Cansino 8, Bates 6, Almazan 5, Quinto 4, Torres 0, Rios 0, Caram 0, Pascual 0.

Quarterscores: 25-21, 52-38, 77-74, 110-98.