PBA: San Miguel survives comeback scare from Converge in heated affair

San Miguel averted a major collapse down the stretch, cruising to a narrow 116-113 victory as the Beermen bolstered their playoff hopes in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup on Friday at the Ynares Center.

The FiberXers found a golden opportunity to crawl back from a deficit as big as 19 when June Mar Fajardo was whistled for a flagrant foul penalty one at the 8:30 mark of fourth quarter, when the Beermen were already holding a comfortable 104-88 lead.

Fajardo had to sit out for five minutes as it was already San Miguel's second infraction in the game following Mo Tautuaa's FF1 early in the second period.

Without the reigning eight-time MVP on the floor, veteran guard Jordan Heading took charge in the rally by firing two consecutive triples that made it just a 110-100 disadvantage with still plenty of time to go. Before that, they stared at a 64-45 hole late in the second period.

The FiberXers, who were playing without their own big man in Justin Arana after he hurt his knee last game, continued this momentum as Heading converted anew before Justine Baltazar nailed a layup and import Cheick Diallo soared for a dunk, 112-106.

But Juami Tiongson, whose splendid outside shooting kept them afloat all game long, continued to wax hot with a corner pull-up jumper, bringing SMB to a 114-106 cushion before he was called for two technical fouls for a verbal altercation with Alec Stockton.

Things got more interesting when Heading fired his second four-point shot as Converge turned it into just a single-possession affair at 114-111 in the final 2:08. CJ Perez then had the chance to seal it on the line, but only made one of his four freebies following a foul on Heading.

Luckily for San Miguel, Converge muffed its final attempt after Bryan Santos was well-defended by SMB import Malik Pope.

"This is the first time, I think, na we had a good start since nu'ng game namin against Magnolia and we dictated the tempo of the game," SMB head coach Leo Austria said.

"But I've said during our huddle before the game na it's not only the start, it's how you finish it. And then that's what happened. Fortunately, we were able to win."

Tiongson and Pope both tallied 22 points with the latter grabbing 14 rebounds, three blocks, one assist, and one steal while Fajardo churned out 19 markers, 14 boards, one steal, and one block as they improved to 5-6.

Converge, already assured of a playoff spot, dropped to 8-4.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News