Johnson, Perez combine for 54 as San Miguel Beer hands Barangay Ginebra's 4th straight loss

Import Orlando Johnson and CJ Perez combined for 54 points to tow the San Miguel Beer past Barangay Ginebra, 110-102, on Sunday in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Down 86-73 at the end of the third period, Ginebra banked on an early run in the fourth period before a dunk by Justin Browlee at the 8:03 mark energized the crowd and cut their deficit to just five.

After a rally for both teams in the middle part of the quarter, SMB's gap widened to nine on a Perez layup before John Nard Pinto drilled a triple to bring them to closer at 106-100.

With 1:19 left, a Johnson dunk gave enough cushion to the Beermen and he followed up with another basket with 45 seconds left to seal the deal for San Miguel.

Johnson listed 31 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, while Perez had 23 points for the SMB win. June Mar Fajardo had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Marcio Lassiter added another 13 points.

The Beermen spoiled Justin Brownlee's 40-point output, while Arvin Tolentino and Japeth Aguilar made 14 points, respectively. Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger tallied 11 and 17 boards each on top of seven and eight markers, respectively.

SMB returned to the win column and improved to 4-3, while Ginebra recorded their fourth straight loss and went down to 3-4.

The Beermen will be back in action on Wednesday against the Phoenix Super LPG Fuelmasters while Ginebra will try to bounce back against Blackwater Bossing on Friday, both games to be played at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Scores:

SMB 110 – Johnson 31, Perez 23, Fajardo 13, Lassiter 13, Romeo 9, Manuel 8, Tautuaa 7, Ross 6, Brondial 0.

Ginebra 102 – Brownlee 40, J. Aguilar 14, Tolentino 14, Tenorio 13, Standhardinger 8, Thompson 7, Pinto 6.

Quarters: 20-24, 48-46, 86-73, 110-102.

—MGP, GMA News