Santos hits game-winner as Beermen spoil Slaughter’s Northport debut

Games on Wednesday (Ynares Sports Arena)
12:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs Blackwater
3 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Alaska
6 p.m. – Phoenix vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines – Arwind Santos drained the game-winner as San Miguel Beer got away with an 88-86 win to spoil Greg Slaughter’s debut for Northport in the 46th PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City Sunday.

The veteran forward received a perfect pass from Marcio Lassiter and calmly nailed the go-ahead jumper with 1.2 seconds left, rescuing the Beermen from a near upset en route to their second straight win.

???? Arwind for the lead… YESSIR!

88-86 SMB 4q 1.2 secs
NorthPort ball#PBAItuloyAngLaban pic.twitter.com/dm7Ov3VbUA

— PBA (@pbaconnect) July 25, 2021

Santos’ heroic was a fitting redemption to his costly mistake the play before, incurring a technical foul after a looseball collision with Sydney Onwubere that led to Robert Bolick swishing a free throw to tie the game at 86 with 7.3 ticks left.

Santos, 40, finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks while CJ Perez tallied 18 markers, eight boards and five steals for the former five-time champion that has rediscovered its fiery form at 2-1 slate after a debut loss to Meralco last week.

Team captain Alex Cabagnot and Mo Tautuaa added 16 and 11 points, respectively, with six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo contributing eight markers and seven boards in his gradual return after a year-long recovery from a shin injury.

“From the start, I knew that this would be a tough game for us because of the presence of Slaughter. But the team really wanted to win, especially Arwind,” said coach Leo Austria as SMB improved to 11-0 overall in All-Filipino tourney against Northport since the latter's PBA entry in 2012.

“We survived in the fourth quarter. It was an ugly finish for us. It was an ugly game in the fourth quarter, but a win is a win,” he added.

After a close duel in the first half, San Miguel took command bridging the third and fourth quarter to erect a huge 81-65 lead only to stare at a near collapse after Slaughter lifted Norhtport on his back with a 20-5 rally.

The 7-foot-0 Slaughter, whom the Batang Pier acquired in a one-one-one trade with Ginebra for Christian Standhardinger, capped off his frenzy with a hook shot over long-time rival Fajardo in the last 47 seconds for a slim 85-86 deficit.

Both squads traded misses since then, leading to Santos’ technical foul, Bolick’s game-tying charity and Santos game-winner in that order for the final count. Kevin Ferrer missed a potential game-snatching trey at the horn.

Slaughter unleashed his full potential with 23 points and 17 rebounds after sitting out in the first two games.

Bolick backstopped him with 19 as the Batang Pier failed to make it back-to-back after clipping Phoenix last week, 115-79. They slid to 1-2.

The scores:

San Miguel 88 – Perez 18, Santos 17, Cabagnot 16, Tautuaa 11, Fajardo 8, Lassiter 6, Pessumal 6, Ross 3, Gamalinda 3.

Northport 86 – Slaughter 23, Bolick 18, Onwubere 12, Balanza 11, Malonzo 10, Taha 9, Rike 1, Ferrer 1, Faundo 0, Elorde 0, Doliguez 0.

Quarterscores: 21-21, 52-45, 79-63, 88-86.