SAN MIGUEL Beer continued its dominance, while Alaska handed Rain or Shine its worst beating in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) during Season 46 Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
The Beermen, riding on the double-double performance of June Mar Fajardo, crushed Blackwater, 99-80, to book their third straight win after four games. Fajardo, the sixth consecutive Season Most Valuable Player winner had 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks to improve the Beermen’s win-loss record to 3-1.
San Miguel Beer also drew double-digit scoring from CJ Perez (14), Marcio Lassiter (13), Alex Cabagnot (12), Paul Zamar (11) and Von Pessumal (10). Veteran Arwind Santos contributed also with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds in addition to his five assists also for the Beermen.
The Bossing went winless after four games.
The Aces, on the other hand, dealt the Elasto Painters to a one-sided 74-48 beating. That was Rain or Shine’s all-time lowest scoring output in their franchise history – next only to Shell’s 47-79 loss to Mobiline (now TNT KaTropa) 21 years ago in an All-Filipino conference.
Alaska improved to a 2-2 win-loss slate.
Abu Tratter nailed 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Jon Rodney Brondial and Maverick Ahanmisi added 13 and 10 points, respectively, for Alaska.
Despite the humiliating defeat, Rain or Shine is still on top with a 3-1 win-loss record.
In the last game marred by a one-hour delay, Meralco came back from winning by outlasting Phoenix Super LPG, 91-80, behind Allein Maliksi’s strong showing.
Maliksi exploded for a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds, while Newsome added 23 points and seven assists that also put the Bolts at the upper place with 3-1 record.
Stocky playmaker Nards Pinto and veteran Reynel Hugnatan contributed 11 points apiece also for Meralco.
Matthew Wright led Phoenix with 29 points, but the Fuel Masters still fell to 1-3 cards.