San Miguel Beermen Basketball Games Updates

Photo Credit: PBA.ph

With Dorian Pena nursing a slight fever, bigman Mick Pennisi took charge of manning the middle and took Coca-Cola Tigers bigman Asi Taulava to shooting school as he helped the San Miguel Beermen notched its seventh win to the tune of 89-86 victory over the Coca-Cola Tigers.

Very noticeable in the game and irritating to watch are the turnovers committed by the Beermen mainly due to its long break. In spite of that, their good defense kept them in the game.

For the first time this conference, Samigue Eman was fielded in the second quarter. He also saw action later in the game and found difficulty matching up with Asi Taulava in the paint commiting 5 personal fouls in a span of five minutes.

To those who are wondering where is Danny Seigle, he was seen watching the game in civilian clothes behind the SMB bench. Definitely, he is still with the San Miguel Beermen but needs to recover from an injury before he can play once again.

Haven’t watched the game? Let this news report from the Philippine Basketball Association (pba.ph) tell you the whole story.

BEERMEN BACK IN SHARE OF LEAD
Pennisi, Custodio star in fourth quarter as SMB tames Coke Tigers
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mick Pennisi went 5-of-8 from behind the arc including the go ahead triple with 6:41 remaining to help the San Miguel Beermen pull off an 89-86 victory over the Coca-Cola Tigers Wednesday night in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

A game they never thought would be this close nearly spoiled the Beermen’s goal thanks to Jonas Villanueva, who defended well enough to keep Coca-Cola guard Alex Cabagnot off-balance when he took the potential game-tying three as the buzzer sounded.

It was the third consecutive victory and six in the last seven games for the Beermen, who wound up the first half of the eliminations with 7-2 (win-loss) record that kept them abreast with the Alaska Aces atop the team standings.

“We didn’t expect (the game) to be this close but we also didn’t take them for granted,” said SMB head coach Siot Tanquingcen during the post-game interview.

Coming off a six-day break appeared to have turned the Bermen rusty.

They struggled with their offense and they didn’t seem to know each other, committing one error after the other on a certain stretch in each of the four quarters.

San Miguel displayed their ugly game in the middle quarters where it committed 13 of its total 23 turnovers and enabling Coca-Cola to build an 11-point advantage in the second and third periods.

But the Beermen showed why they are considered one of the teams to beat in this tournament with Pennisi and Dondon Hontiveros – both coming off the bench – knocking in shots when they needed them the most.

Pennisi, who came off the bench, led all scorers with 18 points, his highest output in a San Miguel uniform while Dondon Hontiveros, who also didn’t start, added 13 on a 4-of-9 shooting for his ninth straight game in double figures this conference.

The Beermen, who last won the all-Filipino title in 2001, trailed by a point at the end of third but rookie Bonbon Custodio and Pennisi completed a 7-0 run to open the fourth and pull SMB ahead, 70-66.

A 3-pointer by Cesar Catli and a split free throw by Nic Belasco tied the count at 70-all with 7:02 remaining before Pennisi knocked in the go ahead trey.

“We’re not really playing smart on both ends of the floor but at least we’re finding ways to win,” Tanquingcen said.

It was a game in which both teams shot poorly. SMB made just 37 percent of their shots (28-of-75) while Coca-Cola posted a 34% clip (29-of-83).

SMB held an 82-74 lead with 3:32 to play and appeared to have the game in control but the Tigers refused to go away.

With Cabagnot hitting the crucial shots, Coke scored 10 of the next 14 points to threaten at 84-86 with 17 seconds left.

But Jay Washington, who struggled with his shooting all night, nailed two free throws with 16 second to go to seal the win. Washington, who went 2-of-10 from the field, finished with seven points and scored his first basket with 4:48 to play.

Cabagnot and Mark Telan tallied 14 points apiece to the show the way for the Tigers, who closed their first elimination round with a 3-6 mark.(DBC)

The scores:

San Miguel Beer 89 – Pennisi 18, Hontiveros 13, Gonzales 12, Tugade 12, Pingris 11, Washington 7, Custodio 6, Villanueva 4, Bono 2, Racela 2, Pena 2, Eman 0.

Coca-Cola 86 – Cabagnot 14, Telan 14, Belasco 12, Catli 11, Calimag 10, Macapagal 8, Dimaunahan 5, Taulava 5, Enrile 4, Misolas 3, Rizada 0.
Quarterscores: 16-21, 36-40, 63-64, 89-86.

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