San Miguel Beer import then tapped the back of Pringle’s head as if to say, “Nice try.”
That summed up the swagger San Miguel Beer showed against GlobalPort on Friday as it rolled to 112-101 victory to clinch a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Beermen put up a great start and a strong finishing kick as they avoided complications that would’ve seen them drop to as low as fourth spot in a best-of-three series.
The Beermen will face either Phoenix or GlobalPort in the first round of the playoffs depending on the result of the Ginebra-Mahindra matchup in the main game of the day’s doubleheader, the result of which will also determine which team between Alaska and Phoenix will GlobalPort face in the playoff for the eighth seed.
San Miguel vs Globalport
EVENTS: 2017 PBA COMMISSIONERS CUP
Chris Ross again proved why he’s an emerging two-way player as he led the locals in scoring with 17 points along with seven assists, six boards, and two steals, against only one turnover in 38 minutes.
June Mar Fajardo added 15 points, eight boards, and three assists in 27 minutes off the bench, while Alex Cabagnot chipped in a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards on top of two assists.
Justin Harper led the Batang Pier with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Terrence Romeo and Pringle added 21 points apiece in a losing cause.
The Final Boxscore Result:
SMB 112 – Rhodes 34, Ross 17, Fajardo 15, Cabagnot 13, Lassiter 13, Santos 13, Reyes 4, Tubid 3, Heruela 0, Espinas 0
GLOBALPORT 101 – Harper 25, Pringle 21, Romeo 21, Guinto 11, Anthony 9, Pessumal 5, Cortez 4, Ababou 3, Grey 2, Forrester 0, Pennisi 0, Maierhofer 0, Mamaril 0, Paredes 0
Quarterscores: 32-21, 51-46, 77-72, 112