Late rally lifts San Miguel past TNT

The San Miguel Beermen on Monday climbed out of a 23-point hole to defeat the TNT KaTropa 121-110 in Game 1 of their 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-three series.

Renaldo Balkman led San Miguel with 36 points, while June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter were on point for 27 and 26 points, respectively. Arwind Santos, meanwhile, led the bench with 10, as Alex Cabagnot struggled with just six points off a 1 of 9 shooting clip.

TNT led for the first three quarters, before the Beermen slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half. After the first two quarters, TNT led 62-48, but coach Leo Austria’s squad was able to trim the deficit to just two points entering the final frame, 88-86.

Freethrows from Renaldo Balkman finally gave the Beermen the lead at the 7:08 mark, 100-99, but it was the decisive 16-0 run that gave San Miguel a 13-point advantage in the final 1:15 that spelled the difference.

Josh Smith’s 17 points as a astarter were matched by RR Pogoy’s 17 off the bench, while Kelly Williams tallied 16. Anthony Semerad added 11 markers, while Jayson Castro and Don Trollano scored 10 apiece. —KG, GMA News