MANILA: Pushed to the wall right on opening day, San Miguel Beer knew the guys it needed to go to at the crunch.
Reliable hands June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot delivered the goods in the stretch on Sunday night and lifted the defending champion Beermen to a 96-88 nipping of Star as the 42nd Season of the PBA got off the ground with the Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Fajardo and Cabagnot scored seven points each in the fourth period and San Miguel pounced on the error-prone Hotshots in the endgame as the Beermen opened their quest for a third straight championship here on the right foot before a good-sized crowd at the historic Big Dome.
“They are used to these kinds of games,” Austria said in Filipino, referring to the reigning three-time MVP Fajardo and Cabagnot. “In our five semis (appearances) and three titles (in the last two seasons), they (Cabagnot and Fajardo) have carried this team.”
Fajardo finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds and Cabagnot had 22 and eight assists as they keyed a 15-0 closing kick by the Beermen that kept the Hotshots grounded.
Star, which beefed up its backcourt in the off-season by acquiring Paul Lee from Star and snagging the talented Jio Jalalon from the Special Cadet Draft, led by as large as nine in the fourth period and was 88-81 ahead going into the final five minutes or so before sputtering.
Lee finished with 12 points, 10 of them in the third period, but was held scoreless in the fourth when the Hotshots needed a shot in the arm to hold off San Miguel.
Jalalon, the former Arellano guard and MVP in the NCAA, fired 11 points in his professional debut.
And while the Star rookie was given the minutes to show his wares, Austria didn’t even give his rookies a chance to play.
Arnold Van Opstal, the best big man in the last Draft, and Rashawn McCarthy were benched as Austria declared that he would use only “the players we need.”
Arwind Santos fired 17 points to help the San Miguel cause, and like Fajardo and Cabagnot, played a total of more than three quarters as Austria played only 10 men with Marcio Lassiter on the floor for more than 41 minutes.
“This is our first game and we want to win,” Austria said when asked why Van Opstal and McCarthy were made to sit it out.
“I asked my assistant coaches about them, and although they (rookies) could help us, we treated this game like the playoffs because this is a very short conference,” he said.
“We use only those we need,” Austria bluntly said. “Pasensya na sa kanila (rookies).”
Mark Barroca, one of three star point guards for the Hotshots, paced Star with 13 points, though like the rest of the team, was shut down when it mattered in the stretch.
Star was held to just nine points in the final frame after tossing in 36 in the third. The Hotshots came into the fourth holding a 79-75 lead and were 86-85 up going into the final six minutes before the drought came.
Reliable hands June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot delivered the goods in the stretch on Sunday night and lifted the defending champion Beermen to a 96-88 nipping of Star as the 42nd Season of the PBA got off the ground with the Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Fajardo and Cabagnot scored seven points each in the fourth period and San Miguel pounced on the error-prone Hotshots in the endgame as the Beermen opened their quest for a third straight championship here on the right foot before a good-sized crowd at the historic Big Dome.
“They are used to these kinds of games,” Austria said in Filipino, referring to the reigning three-time MVP Fajardo and Cabagnot. “In our five semis (appearances) and three titles (in the last two seasons), they (Cabagnot and Fajardo) have carried this team.”
Fajardo finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds and Cabagnot had 22 and eight assists as they keyed a 15-0 closing kick by the Beermen that kept the Hotshots grounded.
Star, which beefed up its backcourt in the off-season by acquiring Paul Lee from Star and snagging the talented Jio Jalalon from the Special Cadet Draft, led by as large as nine in the fourth period and was 88-81 ahead going into the final five minutes or so before sputtering.
Lee finished with 12 points, 10 of them in the third period, but was held scoreless in the fourth when the Hotshots needed a shot in the arm to hold off San Miguel.
Jalalon, the former Arellano guard and MVP in the NCAA, fired 11 points in his professional debut.
And while the Star rookie was given the minutes to show his wares, Austria didn’t even give his rookies a chance to play.
Arnold Van Opstal, the best big man in the last Draft, and Rashawn McCarthy were benched as Austria declared that he would use only “the players we need.”
Arwind Santos fired 17 points to help the San Miguel cause, and like Fajardo and Cabagnot, played a total of more than three quarters as Austria played only 10 men with Marcio Lassiter on the floor for more than 41 minutes.
“This is our first game and we want to win,” Austria said when asked why Van Opstal and McCarthy were made to sit it out.
“I asked my assistant coaches about them, and although they (rookies) could help us, we treated this game like the playoffs because this is a very short conference,” he said.
“We use only those we need,” Austria bluntly said. “Pasensya na sa kanila (rookies).”
Mark Barroca, one of three star point guards for the Hotshots, paced Star with 13 points, though like the rest of the team, was shut down when it mattered in the stretch.
Star was held to just nine points in the final frame after tossing in 36 in the third. The Hotshots came into the fourth holding a 79-75 lead and were 86-85 up going into the final six minutes before the drought came.
