ABL: Beermen take top spot with dominant win over Slammers

The San Miguel Beermen ascended to the top of the Asean Basketball League standings with a 103-76 demolition job of the cellar-dwelling Chang Thailand Slammers Sunday at the Thai Japanese Association Gym.   "Really enjoying playing with @SanMigBeermen great group of guys," tweeted out import Nick Fazekas after the game. "We can def do something special if we stay together!!"

really enjoying playing with @SanMigBeermen great group of guys and we can def do something special if we stay together!! — Nick Fazekas (@NickFazekas) April 22, 2012  

The Beermen actually trailed early, 6-17 on a Calvin Williams basket at the 5:48 mark of the first quarter, but San Miguel closed out the period on a 20-9 run to tie things up at 26-all.   A triple by Fil-Italian Chris Banchero off a Junemar Fajardo assist broke the tie for good with 8:54 left in the second period, and San Miguel was off to the races. A Roger Yap jumper capped a 10-0 run that had SMB well in control at the break, 52-38.   It was all San Miguel from that point on, with the lead ballooning to as much as 32, 89-57, early in the fourth quarter, after Benedict Fernandez canned a triple, as the Slammers couldn't muster enough offense to mount any sort of a run.   Nick Fazekas, most recently with the Petron Blaze Boosters in the PBA, led all scorers with 22 points. He also grabbed seven boards, issued five assists and had two steals in under 30 minutes.   Gunner Leo Avenindo and Chris Banchero had 15 each for SMB, while Duke Crews similarly staffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five boards and four dimes.   The Slammers were led by their imports Calvin Williams and Chris Garnett, who had 20 and 14, respectively. Darongpan Apiromvilaichai added 18 on 7-of-11 field goal shooting.   San Miguel forced Thailand into 20 turnovers, scoring 22 points off those miscues. By contrast, they only turned the ball over themselves nine times.   The Beermen also racked up an impressive 29 assists on 42 made field goals, almost 70 percent of their makes.   The victory puts the Beermen at 14-4, a win ahead of their fellow Philippine team, the AirAsia Philippine Patriots. They next play the Singapore Slingers back home at the Ynares Sports Arena on April 25 at 4pm.     The scores:   SMB 103 - Fazekas 22, Banchero 15, Avenido 15, Crews 14, Fernandez 10, Yap 7, Gonzales 7, Ferriols 6, Baguion 4, Dimaunahan 2, Fajardo 1, Cabatu 0   THAI 76 - Williams 20, Aprimovilaichai 18, Garnett 14, Leynes 11, Lertmalaiporn 6, Angeles 5, Suttisin 2, Wongsawangtum 0, Lakhan 0   Quarter scoring: 26-26, 52-38, 79-56, 103-76