Marcio Lassiter joined hands with import Bennie Boatwright Friday night to power San Miguel to a hard-earned 106-96 win over defending champion Barangay Ginebra to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their race-to-three Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Swept by the same team in the best-of-five semifinals of last season’s Governors’ Cup, San Miguel will now have an opportunity to exact revenge with a win on Sunday’s Game 3 which will be played as well at the Mall of Asia Arena.
But San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent refuses to get tickled pink by the prospects of a sweep as he braces for a big Ginebra fight back.
“That didn’t cross my mind. Ginebra is a good team, a well-coached team,” he added.
“We can’t just relax and say that we were swept and we would do the same. We just have to work as hard as we played Games 1 and 2. Ginebra is a mighty team and it’s well-coached. We need to come out in Game 3 and work as hard.”
In downing the crowd-darling Gin Kings, the tandem of Boatwright and Lassiter proved to be the gamechanger.
Reduced to his lowest output in the conference after only a 23-point performance in the series opener, Boatwright responded with 38, including six three-point shots.
Lassiter, on the other hand, went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the third period alone when the Beermen unloaded 33 points in that frame.
One of the remaining holdovers of the fabled squad, Lassiter proved that he remains a threat, and in Game 2, he banged in 16 points.
But while Boatwright and Lassiter took the spotlight on offense, seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo was a force on the defensive end as he completed a career-high six blocks to go along with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
