Crippled? SMB doesn’t look so

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer stayed hot while keeping NorthPort grounded, romping off with a 122-106 rout to claim the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen unleashed their heavy artillery in picking up their third consecutive win en route to a leading 6-1 win-loss card ahead of idle Barangay Ginebra (5-1).

Gunners Robbie Herndon and Marcio Lassiter rifled in 21 and 18 points, respectively, and backup guard Paul Zamar chipped in 15 to complement the usual suspects and spark SMB to the runaway triumph.

Herndon, a pre-season trade acquisition from Converge, and Lassiter formed the tip of a telling 29-8 bomb at the start of the fourth to transform a tied contest into 111-90 tear for SMB.

June Mar Fajardo (21-9), CJ Perez (17-9-12) and Jericho Cruz (12) delivered their normal numbers as the Beermen hardly missed the absence of injured stars Chris Ross (knee), Vic Manuel (calf), Mo Tautuaa (infection) and Terrence Romeo (slipped disc) in hurdling the challenge of a Robert Bolick-less Batang Pier (five straight losses for 2-5).

Herndon highlighted his best game for San Miguel with an 11-point outburst in the fourth, earning Player of the Game honors.

“We came at it, picked up our defense in the fourth and we started hitting fastbreak points. Those were the key (to the breakaway),” said Herndon, who only needed 20 minutes of action to score his career-high 21.

Arwind Santos showed the way for NorthPort with 25, achieving a personal milestone as only the 17th player in PBA history to score 10,000 points.

Roi Sumang netted 20 in a fill-in role for Bolick, who sat it out due to an ankle sprain sustained in their previous game.

The Batang Pier actually enjoyed a 34-25 upperhand in the opening minutes of the second canto. NorthPort’s hold on the nine-point upperhand, however, quickly dissipated as SMB’s second unit led by Zamar unraveled seven unanswered points to cut it to two.

The protagonists would enter the halftime break leveled at 55-55, a stalemate that would extend until the end of the third, 82-all.