San Miguel Beermen and the TNT Tropang Giga assured themselves of quarterfinal berths after they hacked out separate wins in the 47th PBA Governors’ Cup on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen survived a comeback attempt by the Barangay Gin Kings to escape with a 102-99 win, while the Tropa also went through some anxious moments before beating the Meralco Bolts, 110-104.
With the twin victories, San Miguel and TNT found themselves tied at the number one spot in the team standings with identical 7-1 (win-loss) cards.
Cameron Clark fired a game-high 35 points to lead the Beermen, who sealed their second straight win after scoring a 145-132 triumph over the NorthPort Batang Pier last Wednesday.
Clark also added 10 rebounds and two assists. CJ Perez donated 20 points and seven rebounds, while Jun Mar Fajardo contributed 12 markers and 18 boards.
San Miguel looked headed to an easy win when it led by 11 in the final two minutes.
The Kings, however, nearly did the unthinkable when they rallied within 99-100 in the dying seconds.
A crucial basket by Clark made it 102-99 with 8.8 ticks left and the Beermen finally sealed the win when Nards Pinto misfired a three-pointer in the next play.
Christian Stanhardinger led the Kings with 29 points, while import Justin Brownlee had 21 markers on an 8-for-18 shooting from the field.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, meanwhile, had another big game for TNT as he piled up 34 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Mikey Williams chipped in 25 points, Calvin Oftana had 19 and Jayson Castro had 16 as the Tropa padded their winning streak to five.
TNT led by as many as 22 points but Meralco moved within six points in the final minutes.
Timely hits from the free throw line by Hollis-Jefferson and Castro prevented the Bolts from completing their endgame run.
KJ McDaniels finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Black scored 21 and Chris Newsome tallied 20 for Meralco, which fell to 3-3.
Image courtesy of PBA Media Bureau
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