By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
Six players scored in double figures for the defending 3-time Philippine Cup champions San Miguel Beermen as SMB steamrolled Barangay Ginebra with an emphatic 102-81 victory at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Beermen now have a commanding 3-1 semifinals series lead to put crowd favorites Ginebra in the brink of elimination.
San Miguel is just a win away from securing their fourth straight All-Filipino finals appearance, with the Beermen walking away with the championship trophy in all those stints.
SMB’s vaunted Fab 5 were just too much against the Gin Kings defense.
San Miguel sharpshooter Marcio Lassiter led the way with 23 points.
Pointguard Alex Cabagnot fired 19 points, dished out 8 assists and swiped 5 steals.
The MVP duo of Arwind Santos and Junemar Fajardo scored 16 and 14 points respectively.
Matt Ganuelas-Rosser came off the bench, adding 12 points including a sizzling dunk late in the 4th quarter.
Chris Ross, who was thought to miss Game 4 after suffering a mild hamstring injury in Tuesday’s Game 3 loss, played just 8 minutes but still scored 11 points.
Ginebra meanwhile was led by forward Japeth Aguilar who scored 31 points.
Guard LA Tenorio added 20 while Jervy Cruz contributed 9 markers for the Gin Kings.
Ginebra will try to avoid elimination and extend the series in Game 5 this Saturday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City at 6:30 PM.
Boxscores:
SAN MIGUEL 102 – Lassiter 23, Cabagnot 19, Santos 16, Fajardo 14, Ganuelas-Rosser 12, Ross 11, Espinas 4, Pessumal 3, Lanete 0, De Ocampo 0, Heruela 0, Agovida 0, Vigil 0, Mamaril 0.
GINEBRA 81 – Aguilar 31, Tenorio 20, Cruz 9, Mercado 5, Caguioa 3, Caperal 3, Ferrer 3, Mariano 2, Manuel 2, Devance 2, Thompson 1, Aguilar 0.
Quarterscores: 32-22, 58-41, 84-58, 102-81