MANILA — On Easter Sunday, San Miguel Beermen pulled off an April Fools’ Day prank on Magnolia Hotshots to take a 2-1 lead in their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals.
The Beermen used a fourth quarter barrage to upend the Hotshots, 111-87, in Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
With Junemar Fajardo riding the bench for the entire payoff period, SMB went for 36 points while limiting Magnolia to just 19 points to pull away for good.
The result was somehow obvious early into the final frame as the Beermen opened the period on a 17-3 blast and never looked back.
Marcio Lassiter got the best individual score for SMB, which took a 2-1 series lead, as he finished with 24 points along with six rebounds, two assists, five steals, and one block.
Fajardo still put up 21 markers, 17 rebounds, and two assists.
In his first start in the series, Chris Ross fired 14 points even as Arwind Santos put up the same number of markers.
Mark Barroca dropped 22 markers, four rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block for Magnolia, but committed five of the team’s 23 errors.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 111 – Lassiter 24, Fajardo 21, Ross 14, Santos 14, Heruela 11, Espinas 9, Cabagnot 5, Rosser 5, Pessumal 4, Semerad 2, Vigil 2, Mamaril 0, Lanete 0.
MAGNOLIA 87 – Barroca 22, Lee 15, Ramos 12, Simon 10, Sangalang 6, Dela Rosa 6, Jalalon 6, Gamalinda 6, Reavis 4, Pascual 0, Mendoza 0, Brondial 0, Herndon 0.
Quarterscores: 29-22, 50-49, 75-68, 111-87.