Terrence Romeo of San Miguel drives past Phoenix forward Calvin Abueva. | PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines—The technical fouls kept coming and so were 3-pointers from Terrence Romeo.
Romeo took over in the third quarter and San Miguel Beer steamrolled Phoenix, 114-91, in another rough-and-tumble Philippine Cup semifinals duel for a 3-1 series lead Tuesday night at Cuneta Astrodome.
The explosive guard erupted for 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from distance after going scoreless in the first half.
He finished with a game-high 20 points.
“He was our main man tonight,” SMB coach Leo Austria said.
Romeo alone outscored the Fuel Masters in the third quarter, where the Beermen dominated, 30-15.
San Miguel looks to close out Phoenix on Thursday at the same venue.
The game saw two ejections and a ton of technical fouls called against both teams.
A scuffle broke out after Beermen playmaker Alex Cabagnot appeared to have hit Fuel Masters guard RJ Jazul with a closed fist below the belt late in the second quarter.
Jazul’s teammate Alex Mallari then shoved Cabagnot before having a heated exchange of words with San Miguel’s Matt Ganuelas-Rosser.
The referees quickly stepped in to pacify the situation before proceeding to review the incident.
Mallari got tossed after picking up two technical fouls, one for second motion and the other for verbal altercation.
Ganuelas-Rosser was also called for a technical for the verbal spat.
But none of those altercations could overshadow Romeo’s performance in Game 4.
“I mean you guys know what Terrence can do. He is one of the best in the country at putting the ball in the hole. He’s proven that through many years, he’s won many scoring championships. Everybody knows what type of player he is,” said San Miguel guard Chris Ross.
“I got nothing but praise for him. Since he’s been with us, he’s been one of the best teammates you can have. He’s adapting to our style of play and he’s adapting to what we do as a team,” Ross added. /bmjo