MANILA: There are very few teams in the PBA that San Miguel Beer doesn’t have an advantage underneath because of June Mar Fajardo.

On Wednesday night, against possibly the best import in the Governors’ Cup, the Beermen showed just how deep and versatile they are to repulse Liam McMorrow and Barako Bull, 116-113, at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Beermen rallied from 11 points down, caught up with the Energy near the end of the third period and then won out in a torrid finish to chalk up a fourth straight win that snapped Barako Bull’s four-game streak.

Fajardo, the reigning MVP who makes his living in the shaded lane, finished with 22 points like Arizona Reid to lead the Beermen, who got the goods from Ronald Tubid in the fourth quarter to rise to 4-2 and creep closer to the leaders.

Barako Bull fell into a tie for the lead with Alaska at 4-1, after the Aces scored a 92-86 decision of defending champion Star (formerly Purefoods), which kept the Hotshots in an unlikely place – the cellar.

Tubid, the Beermen’s ‘energizer bunny,’ scored 12 of his 13 points in the fourth period, draining his third trey with 6:14 left to open up a 105-99 lead.

And after the Energy reclaimed the upper hand at 108-107, Marcio Lassiter drained one from afar before the Beermen hit six points inside the final 30.8 seconds to wrap up the win.

McMorrow was clearly a force by himself inside and Fajardo couldn’t do anything about it.

The 7-foot-2 NBA veteran scored 15 points in the first period alone and keyed the strong Barako Bull start as the Energy raced to leads of as big as 75-64 early in the third period.

But Barako Bull coach Koy Banal recalled McMorrow to the bench, sitting down his dominant import for close to four minutes in the third which allowed the Beermen to creep closer.

San Miguel actually had the lead, 87-86, going into the fourth period.

Still, the Energy almost pulled this one out again after McMorrow scored 10 points in the fourth and Barako Bull had a chance to even things up at 114 and forge overtime only for Reid to block Dylan Ababou’s potential game-tying triple.

Fajardo rounded out scoring with two free throws with 2.3 seconds to go.

Reid scored nine of his total in the fourth and there were a total of six players who finished in twin digits for San Miguel, which has now completely recovered from a 0-2 start and is looming as a solid title threat once more.

“We knew right from the start that this would be a tough game for us,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “Barako Bull had nothing to lose and everything to gain. They are very confident because of their import.”

“We were very lucky to have survived this game,” Austria continued.

“Our outside shooting (in the stretch) made it easier for us,” explained Austria. “Our options inside were very limited because of McMorrow being there. We tried very hard to make our outside shots, and fortunately, we did.”

McMorrow finished with 31 points and 25 rebounds with Joseph Yeo shooting 25 and JC Intal 14.

Romeo Travis scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and issued seven assists in leading the Aces to their third straight win in a 4-1 record.

Vic Manuel was the second and last Alaska player to score in double figures with 10, but coach Alex Compton had all of his 12 players contributing offensively.

Marqus Blakely paced the Hotshots with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Coach Tim Cone left the coliseum in a huff, obviously dejected at the outcome.

The Hotshots will be up against another team with solid momentum going their way – KIA Motors – in an out-of-town game in Angeles on Saturday.