By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The San Miguel Beermen showed no signs of slowing down and extended its unbeaten streak to seven straight games after demolishing the NorthPort Batang Pier, 120-100, in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup on April 21, 2024, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
It was another dominant display of basketball for the Beermen as they outscored the Batang Pier in the first three quarters before deciding to rest their core players in the final five minutes of the fourth due to the huge lead.
San Miguel quickly caught fire in the first 12 minutes of the game after establishing a double-digit lead courtesy of their waxing hot veteran shooter Marcio Lassiter.
The spitfire shooting guard was locked and loaded in the opening frame, draining three three-pointers that helped the Beermen take a 36-27 advantage heading into the second.
Lassiter continued to find the bottom of the net in the next quarters and capped off his stellar performance with 14 points derived from four made treys.
What made the win sweeter for Lassiter was his achievement of taking over James Yap’s place in the PBA’s All-Time Leaders in three-pointers made.
After San Miguel’s win over NorthPort, Lassiter moved to no. 4 in the PBA’s All-Time Three-Point leaders and has now converted 1,197 treys in his career.
“I knew I had to be aggressive. And you know how it is when you get that first one to go. You kinda think it’s gonna keep going,” said Lassiter after San Miguel’s seventh straight win.
NorthPort already waved the early white flag in the final frame after the Beermen already ballooned its lead to as much as 39 points.
Backstopping Lassiter during San Miguel’s victory was CJ Perez who top-scored the game with 29 big points to go alongside nine rebounds and six assists.
Aside from Lassiter and Perez’s massive offensive contribution, Moala Tautaa also made his presence felt after chipping in 15 points and five rebounds while Don Trollano added 13 markers and seven boards.
San Miguel will look to maintain its untainted PBA record on April 26, 2024, as they face one of their rivals, the Magnolia Hotshots Chicken Timplados in the second scheduled game of the doubleheader.
