Beermen roar to third win

Phelps lights up Phoenix with 52 pts

MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel Beer roared to a wire-to-wire 109-100 triumph over Star Hotshots to get back on track and gain a share of third in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen stormed to a 32-20 tear after 12 minutes and didn’t relinquish control to complete their bounceback from their previous 103-105 loss to Mahindra and vault into joint No. 3 with idle Barangay Ginebra at 3-1.

“We had a lot more energy today unlike in the previous games where there was some sort of overconfidence. This is the good thing about playing against a sister team, it’s always a war and players’ energy are high,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

AZ Reid banged in 34 points to go with 11 assists and five steals while June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot contributed 28 and 21, respectively, to lead SMB to victory.

“All the players have a single goal tonight – to get a W,” said Austria.

James Yap anchored Star’s offensive with 20 even as Marqus Blakely chipped in 15 with 21 boards.

In the first game, Eugene Phelps turned in a monster debut of 52 points to lift Phoenix to its breakthrough win, 120-107.

Phelps, who had stellar stints in Puerto Rico and Mexico, lived up to his moniker “El Destructor” and destroyed the defense of the Batang Pier with 19-5-13-15 scoreline he complemented with 16 rebounds and six assists.

He was a replacement for Marcus Simmons.