Photo Credit: PBA.ph

After 2 mediocre games at the start of the season, the San Miguel Beermen came up with a big game headed by its new player Arwind Santos as he beats his former team – the Burger King Whoppers, 117-99.

Powered by his double-double performance of 28 points and career-high 18 rebounds, Arwind helped his new team get into the win column of the PBA KFC Philippine Cup.

I can’t elaborate much on this win by the San  Miguel Beermen as I was not able to watch it. Sad to say, I can no longer watch games by the San Miguel Beermen during weekdays (Wednesdays and Fridays) as my work spans the time when PBA is aired on those days.

Anyways, even if I’m only reading the news, it’s still good to hear that the San Miguel Beermen is starting to win games. It’s also good that Arwind is starting to contribute as I know he has a lot to give to the team to win games.

Check out the complete game results story from the Philippine Basketball Association (pba.ph) below:

SANTOS STARS AS SAN MIGUEL BREAKS INTO WIN COLUMN

Wed, 10/21/2009 – 22:53 — junior

Arwind Santos played like a man on a mission in his first game against his former team.

Santos erupted with a huge double-double game with 28 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and San Miguel Beer notched its first win in the 35th PBA season with a 117-99 blasting of Burger King at the Cuneta Astrodome Wednesday.

The Beermen woke up from a stupor, breaking into the win-column in the KFC Philippine Cup following back-to-back losses to the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Alaska Milk Aces.

The Whoppers suffered a second defeat in three starts with team skipper Wynne Arboleda starting to serve his long suspension for mauling a fan in their last game against Smart Gilas Friday.

Santos had his breakout game as a Beerman, dealing his former team much beating.

The versatile forward was 4-of-9 from the three-point area and 8-of-14 from the two-point zone as he raised his game several rungs up following mediocre showings against the Kings and the Aces.

He was 0-of-10 from beyond the arc in those games.

“Gigil siguro doon sa first two games kaya ganon. Saka medyo nagse-settle down na rin siguro ako with my new team,” said Santos, who also highlighted his game with 18 caroms, improving his previous career best by one.

“No doubt, Arwind is a great talent. He can play big or small. But talent alone doesn’t win games. The jury is still out if he can pick things up with us,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

The whole San Miguel team made a big turnaround from so-so showings versus the Kings and the Aces.

The Beermen hit at a 42.9-percent three-point shooting — a big improvement from 3-of-32 clip in their first two games.

“Very obvious, nagkakapaan pa ang team. No excuses but we played like shit in our first two games. In short stretches lang kami nakapaglaro ng maayos,” said Tanquingcen.

“We won tonight but we’ve yet to get the chemistry that we want. We’re still a work in progress,” Tanquingcen added.

Finally hitting their strides, the Beermen drew double-digit outputs from six other players in Mike Cortez, Mick Pennisi, Dondon Hontiveros, Lordy Tugade, Jonas Villanueva and Dennis Miranda.

Richard Yee, a transferee from Purefoods, paced BK with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beermen led by as many as 15 points before settling for a 60-49 margin at the half.

They took the opening quarter at 34-24 with Santos beating the buzzer with a long heave for his first three-point shot in the season. (SB)

The scores:

San Miguel 117 – Santos 28, Cortez 16, Pennisi 14, Hontiveros 13, Tugade 12, Villanueva 10, Miranda 10, Pena 6, Custodio 3, Racela 3, Eman 2, Calaguio 0.

Burger King 99 – Yee 17, Billones 16, Quinahan 14, Lanete 13, Matias 7, Buenafe 7, Aban 7, Sharma 7, Yee 5, David 4, Belga 2.

Quarterscores: 34-24, 60-49, 85-73, 117-99

With his new-found confidence, I’m sure Arwind Santos will be a force to reckon with in the following games. Other teams should watch out for him.

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