Sports

KIA stuns SMB in preseason victory

December 05, 2017

JAY R. GOTERA

MANILA — The KIA Picanto, the lowliest team in the PBA, upset the powerhouse San Miguel Beer, 78-75, on Tuesday in a preseason game ahead of the Dec. 17 opening of the 2018 Philippine Cup to launch the 43rd season of the Philippines’ professional basketball league.

Although it was just a tune-up game, the result stunned fans, coming on the heels of the controversial trade where Kia surprisingly exchanged its top overall pick in this year’s rookie draft for three SMB bench players — Ronald Tubid, JR Reyes, and Rashawn McCarthy. The trade allowed the Beermen to snag the highly coveted 6’8” Fil-German standout Christian Standhardinger.

On Tuesday, however, KIA tried to show that it did not get the short end of the deal as it frustrated the defending champions with its heads-up plays.

With the Picanto ahead by three points with 11.4 seconds left, the Beermen had two chances to tie the game, but the three-point attempts of Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos failed to hit the mark.

Jackson Corpuz led KIA with 12 points, eight boards, four steals, two assists, and two blocks. Philip Paniamogan added 11, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Glenn Khobuntin and Bong Galanza chipped in 9 points each in the rousing victory.

Marcio Lassiter top-scored for SMB with 16 points while Cabagnot had 15 markers. Matt Ganuelas-Rosser came off the bench to add 10 points and nine rebounds.

Four-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo sat out the game while Standhardinger will not be available to play for SMB until the middle of the Commissioner’s Cup in June next year.

Phoenix 89, Alaska 85

The Phoenix Fuel Masters withstood a furious rally by the Alaska Aces to hack out an 89-85 victory in another preseason game on Tuesday at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Ortigas.

The Fuel Masters dropped an 11-0 bomb halfway in the fourth quarter to turn a 71-all deadlock into an 82-71 lead. A flurry of three-pointers by Alaska rookie Jeron Teng and Abel Galliguez kept the Aces in the game. But two free throws by Phoenix top gunner Matthew Wright sealed the win.

Wright led the Fuel Masters with 17 points and four assists. Big man new recruit Justin Chua added 11 points and seven rebounds while Joseph Eriobu finished with a near double-double of 10 points and nine boards.

Phoenix bounced back from a 95-91 loss to Rain or Shine in the opener of the preseason series on Monday.

Calvin Abueva paced Alaska with 22 points, but it was not enough to prevent his team from suffering a second straight loss after a 106-100 defeat to the NLEX Road Warriors on Monday.

In that game, Rabeh Al-Hussaini starred for NLEX, firing 12 of his 21 points, including 3-of-3 from downtown, to allow the Road Warriors to erase a 12-point deficit and take an 83-79 third-quarter lead.

Abueva also top-scored for Alaska in that game with 25 points along with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

The all-Filipino PBA Philippine Cup opens with San Miguel Beermen clashing with the Phoenix Fuel Masters in a lone game on Dec. 17 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Games on Wednesday, Dec. 6 (pre-season): Phoenix Fuel Masters vs NLEX Road Warriors and Alaska Aces vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.


December 05, 2017
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