MANILA: Threatened by an enemy that is inferior on paper – and in the current form charts – San Miguel Beer went to its biggest weapons in the second half on Saturday night to again occupy familiar ground in the PBA Philippine Cup.

June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos practically bamboozled Star by themselves in the final two periods and led the Beermen to a 101-90 victory to reclaim a piece of the elimination round lead at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo, the reigning two-time MVP, and Santos, who won his MVP the year before June Mar won his first, combined for 36 second half points – just 13 less than the Star total for that span – as the Beermen played with complete command from there before jacking up their record to 6-1.

San Miguel tied Alaska for the lead – again – and the win put a huge dent in the chances of sister team Star of going deep in the playoffs as the Hotshots dropped to 2-6 overall.

Star, the champion here two seasons ago when Tim Cone led the Hotshots to a Grand Slam, has now lost four straight games to equal the season-mark in futility. Should the Hotshots manage to make the playoffs, they would have to aim to make it at the middle of the pack to have an even chance in the quarterfinals.

San Miguel’s victory kept the defending champion squarely in the fight for a top two finish, which is of vital importance in the tournament as it would mean an outright berth in the Final Four.

Teams that finish the eliminations from Nos. 3-10 will play in the quarterfinals, where the top four will need to beat lower-ranked foes just once to make it to the semifinals.

“The reasons for our second half surge was simple: Arwind (Santos) and June Mar (Fajardo),” San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria told reporters as the duo also combined for 23 rebounds and three blocks.

“They (Fajardo and Santos) really wanted to win, and they showed it again in this game,” said Austria.

Santos actually started out cold, making just two points in the first half after missing his first six shots. The Beermen were dragged into a nip-and-tuck game before Santos exploded in the third period.

Entering the second half ahead by just two, the Beermen got a boost offensively from Santos’ 11 third quarter points, and with Fajardo adding eight, there was no stopping the Beermen from there

“I knew in the second half that he would take the shots, especially when the game is on the line and the team is being threatened,” Austria said of Santos. “He simply took over for us in the second half.”

Chris Ross also played well on both ends, shooting nine points while disrupting the Star offensive flow by pressing the Hotshots’ point guards every time he had the chance.

James Yap, another former two-time MVP, paced Star with 22 but was scoreless in the fourth period. Mark Barroca scored 15 points for the Hotshots.

Meanwhile, Mahindra enhanced its chances of advancing past the eliminations for the first time in its PBA life after an 86-83 nipping of Meralco in the first game.

The Enforcers, who got 15 points and nine rebounds from ex-Gilas pool member Aldrech Ramos, snapped a four-game losing streak and climbed to 2-5, inside the magic circle of teams that will march into the playoffs should it happen tomorrow.

The loss, meanwhile, was the seventh against a lone win for the Bolts despite 18 points from Gary David and twin digit productions from four others.

Mark Yee tossed in seven of his 14 points in the fourth period for Mahindra, which also got 12 points apiece from Kyle Pascual and LA Revilla and 10 markers from the unheralded John Pinto.