By Peter Atencio
Big man Devon Scott may have knocked in only six points in the final period.
But his last two free throws in the remaining five seconds were enough to push the San Miguel Beermen to a 113-108 triumph over the Meralco Bolts on Friday in their last elimination-round game in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.
The Beermen, with comebacking Terrence Romeo shooting 12 points, blew a 25-point lead they earned in the third quarter as the Bolts threatened, 108-111, off an 8-0 run which Bong Quinto capped with a layup in the last 13 seconds, before Scott moved SMB to safer grounds with his freebies.
Scott went on to finish with 32 points, to go with 13 rebounds for the Beermen, who earned the third seeding going into the quarterfinals.
Marcio Lassiter added 13 points for the Beermen, who ended their elimination-round campaign with a 7-5 win-loss slate.
Jericho Cruz and CJ Perez added 10 points apiece for the Beermen, who eked out their four straight win.
The fifth-seed Beermen will now face the No. 4 Converge Fiber Xers in a best-of-three quarterfinals series.
Kevin MdDaniels banged 27 points for the Bolts, who ended their campaign with a 4-8 slate.
Assistant coach George Gallent did not talk much about their game with the Bolts, and instead focused on their coming game with the FiberXers.
“Lessons learned on what went wrong with our last game with Converge, and how to get better,” said Gallent, adding that the team is now complete with Romeo coming back from an injury, following a nine-month absence.
With big man Junemar Fajardo also back, the Beermen promise to be a different squad in their clash with Converge.