PBA: Rodney Brondial steps up in June Mar's absence as San Miguel sinks Macau

Despite missing its biggest presence in the paint, San Miguel dominated the boards to roll past Macau, 123-109, and launch its PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup campaign on Tuesday at the Ynares Center.

Big man Rodney Brondial posted a rare statline of 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting clip to go with 25 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and a block to fill in for the absence of June Mar Fajardo.

Import George King also impressed in his Beermen debut after erupting for 30 points along with five rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and a block while CJ Perez and Jericho Cruz added 21 and 20 points, respectively.

Jerrick Ahanmisi was solid in his first game wearing the San Miguel uniform, dropping 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

"Biro ko nga kanina, kailangan ko lumabas sa mundo ng halimaw kasi wala si June Mar e," Brondial said in jest.

"Ready lang ako palagi sa kung anong opportunity na binibigay sa akin, kinukuha ko lang naman. Nagkataon kasi na may opportunity na tumakbo."

Macau controlled the game early on, even taking a double-digit lead at one point in the second period when Ramon Cao hit a triple that gave the guest team a 41-30 lead.

San Miguel changed the game's complexion in the fourth quarter, with Ahanmisi draining two consecutive baskets to open the period and push the Beermen ahead, 93-86.

Brondial then asserted himself inside with back-to-back buckets for a 102-93 cushion before King took over as facilitator, setting up three straight triples—two from Cruz and one from Don Trollano—to help the Beermen seize a comfortable 114-96 lead.

King put the icing on the cake by knocking down a four-point shot from the logo, sinking Macau to a 0-2 start in its second league appearance.

De’Vondre Perry led Macau with 25 points while Damian Chongqui and Kobey Lam each tallied 22 markers in another loss.

The scores:

San Miguel 123 - King 30, Perez 21, Cruz 20, Ahanmisi 16, Trollano 11, Brondial 10, Tautuaa 10, Lassiter 5, Cahilig 0, Calma 0, Hernandez 0, Ross 0.

Macau 109 - Perry 25, Chongqui 22, Lam 22, Zhang Z. 10, Chao 9, Cao 8, Liu 8, Li 3, Zhang Y. 2, Zhu 0.

Quarters: 24-30, 53-58, 89-86, 123-109.

—JMB, GMA News