SMB gains first win after rally over Ginebra

Christian Standhardinger led his team with 26 points, as teammate Chris Ross also chipped in with 22 points making six out of 11 three-pointers. (File Photo: PBA/Facebook)

San Miguel dominated Barangay Ginebra in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday, January 20 with the score ending at 99-91 in favor of the Beermen successfully redeeming themselves from their difficult first-game loss against Columbian.

Christian Standhardinger led his team with 26 points, as teammate Chris Ross also chipped in with 22 points making six out of 11 three-pointers. Although San Miguel led by a game-high of 23 points, Marcio Lassiter only secured the lead late in the fourth quarter as he hit the team’s 15th three-pointer of the game. As for their opponents, LA Tenorio scored a total of 24 points, but it was not enough to continue Ginebra’s winning streak after gaining the victory against Talk N’ Text during their debut last Sunday, January 13.

San Miguel head coach Leo Austria expressed that he is “so happy for this win,” saying in a mix of English and Filipino, “After our loss against Columbian, we had two days of sleepless nights because everyone was expecting us to win that game. I keep on telling the players that there’s no easy team to beat in this league. That’s an indication that all teams have built up.”

He added, “It’s a good thing we got to redeem ourselves this game. As Columbian Coach John Cardel said, they got a big fish last game. Good thing we got to redeem ourselves this time around.” San Miguel is looking to be even stronger upon the return of new recruit Terrence Romeo, who has sprained his ankle during the last game.

As for player of the game big man Standhardinger, he “doesn’t know if [this is] a wake-up calling,” explaining, “I’m just happy that we played very good tonight. We played hard and if we play hard, it’s hard to beat us.” The Filipino-German further shared, “It was good. You saw everyone play hard and like I said, if we all go hard, it’s very tough to stop us. But we have to guard hard and we have to adjust and sacrifice for the team.” When it came to being the highest pointer, he said that “it’s just lay-ups so credit to [his] teammates,” in his words, “I ran hard and I’m happy that they found me. I’m happy to play with those guys.”

San Miguel’s next game is against the Meralco Bolts on January 25 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, while recent opponents Ginebra is facing the Rain or Shine Elastopainters at the Calasiao Sports Complex, Pangasinan on January 26.