MANILA, Philippines – There seems to be no end in sight for San Miguel’s woes in the East Asia Super League.
Already out of contention and only playing for pride, the Beermen fell short of their comeback and absorbed an 84-74 loss to Hong Kong Eastern at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, January 15.
Locals June Mar Fajardo and Don Trollano carried the fight for San Miguel in yet another stinging defeat that dropped the Beermen to 0-5 in Group A.
Fajardo finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks, including the last 12 points of a 20-2 run that allowed San Miguel to climb out of a 50-75 hole early in the fourth quarter and trim its deficit to 70-77 with two minutes left.
But Eastern answered with a 7-2 blitz highlighted by 5 points from Kobey Lam to seal the win, its third in a row after a 0-2 start in the tournament.
Trollano also delivered 20 points with 5 assists and 4 rebounds in the loss, with no other Beermen player scoring in double figures.
Import Torren Jones tallied just 6 points in 20 minutes of action, while fellow reinforcement Jabari Narcis went scoreless in over six minutes of play.
San Miguel has now lost three straight games to Eastern, with two coming in the EASL and one in the PBA.
Cameron Clark paced Eastern with 25 points and 8 rebounds, while four more Hong Kong players breached twin-digit scoring.
Lam ended up with 10 points, 7 coming in the final frame.
The Beermen have one last chance to salvage their EASL campaign when they visit Korean Basketball League club Suwon KT Sonicboom on February 12.
The Scores
Eastern 84 – Clark, 25, McLaughlin 15, Blankley 11, Yang 11, Lam 10, Cheung 7, Cao 5, Chan 0, Leung 0, Pok 0, Zhu 0, Xu 0.
San Miguel 74 – Fajardo 20, Trollano 20, Tiongson 8, Jones 6, Cruz 6, Perez 5, Tautuaa 4, Teng 4, Cahilig 1, Rosales 0, Nava 0, Narcis 0.
Quarters: 30-11, 48-32, 70-50, 84-74.
– Rappler.com