MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen squandered an early 16-point lead but kept their poise in the endgame to prevail over the Star Hotshots by the slimmest of margin, 77-76, in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinal series on Monday night. Game 3 of the best-of-five series is on Wednesday night. Charles Rhodes led SMB with 21 points while four other Beermen scored in double digit. Alex Cabagnot fired 12 points, June Mar Fajardo finished with 12, while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross added 11 and 10, respectively. Arwind Santos scored only a basket — a three-pointer with seconds left — but it was the biggest shot of the night as it put the Beermen on top for good at 77-74 with three minutes and 47 seconds left. Santos earlier missed his first five shots. Mark Barroca cut the lead to a point in a flash with a dazzling drive. As he was fouled while taking the shot, Barroca could have equalized but missed his gift shot. In the next possession, Barroca made up for his missed free throw by intercepting a Fajardo pass, giving the Hotshots a chance to beat the Beermen and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. Off a timeout, Paul Lee drove straight into a phalanx of SMB defenders and released a floater that bounced off the rim, sealing Star's defeat. Ricardo Ratliffe led Star with 25 points and a whopping 35 rebounds, the fourth highest number of rebounds made in a game in PBA history, and the second highest during the playoffs. Jio Jalalon's also shone bright for Star with a new career-high18 points on 6-of-16 shooting off the bench. Ian Sangalang added 12 markers. The SMB defense held Allein Maliksi to just 5 points and Aldrech Ramos, the Game 1 hero, to just 5 markers. Barroca and Lee could only bleed for just 4 and 3 points, respectively. Game on Tuesday, June 13, 2017: TNT Ka Tropa Texters vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (best-of-5 semifinals; TNT leads 1-0)
