San Miguel shakes off careless 4th quarter closing to survive Converge

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The San Miguel Beermen escaped a late fourth-quarter rally from the Converge FiberXers, 102-95, to draw first blood in their PBA Governor’s Cup quarterfinal matchup on September 26, 2024, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

San Miguel was poised to seal their wire-to-wire victory in dominant fashion but a series of sloppy plays allowed the FiberXers to inch close and turn the blowout into a nip-and-tuck affair.

With only 3:45 remaining in the game, San Miguel’s ferocity and aggressiveness in the shaded lane suddenly evaporated when they were able to establish a 16-point advantage.

San Miguel went too relaxed that paved the way for Converge to strike back and trim their deficit to just four points, 99-95.

Unfortunately, the FiberXers couldn’t execute their sets when it mattered the most as Deschon Winston fumbled an open three-point attempt followed by a costly turnover from JL Delos Santos.

San Miguel then pressed the emergency button and relied on their new reinforcement, EJ Anosike, who cashed in the clutch shots from the charity stripe that proved to be the icing on the cake for the Beermen.

It was all San Miguel from the get-go as Anosike’s imposing strength in the paint steered the Beermen to an early lead to capture their desired pace.

Anosike, who was tapped by the Beermen to replace the injured Jordan Adams, provided a different look as he was more of a paint-oriented player who liked to draw fouls with his strength.

Unlike Adams who was an outside shooter, Anosike relieved some scoring load off June Mar Fajardo who just feasted down the block.

Anosike impressed in his first game wearing the San Miguel jersey and flirted with a double-double performance of 28 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

Meanwhile, Fajardo’s consistency was still on full display after dropping 25 markers, 16 boards, three dimes, three blocks, and two steals.