Beermen crawl back from 23 down to beat KaTropa in Game 1

San Miguel import Renaldo Balkman tries to get past the defense of TNT’s Troy Rosario. /PBA images

Powerhouse San Miguel Beer roared back from 23 points down in the first half on Monday night to take a 121-110 triumph over TNT KaTropa, which, more than a 1-0 lead in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals series at Smart Araneta Coliseum, gave the defending champion Beermen a huge psychological victory.

“It’s a minor setback for them,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said when asked how he felt such a come-from-behind win could affect the psyche of the enemy in a series this short. “They (Texters) still have a chance, but it will be very tough for them (to win two straight games).”

Renaldo Balkman scored 36 points and June Mar Fajardo added 27 and the duo did their most damage in the final half, where they combined for 40, with the San Miguel import tossing in twin digits in each of the last two periods.

Marcio Lassiter fired 26 and Arwind Santos was the last player in twin digits for Austria with 10 as the Beermen gun for a place in the Final Four against either Alaska or sister team Magnolia with a win in Game 2 set Wednesday also at the fabled Big Dome floor.

“Their backs are now against the wall,” Austria went on in describing the Texters, who opened up with the game’s first 10 points before bloating this to a 46-23 lead early in the second period.

That big lead was still not enough to keep the Beermen from charging back as Austria believes he has his players in their right frame of mind.

“They were all focused, and they knew how to get back,” Austria said of his Beermen, the reigning all-Filipino champions who are shooting for a repeat here to get another chance at an elusive Triple Crown sweep.

“They did everything (to get back in the game). The players simply refused to lose.”

RR Pogoy and Joshua Smith led the Texters with 17 points each, though the burly TNT import fouled out with 3:39 to play after picking up a sixth foul.
The 6-foot-9 Smith was whistled for a fourth foul in the third and rode the bench for a good chunk of the critical stretches.

There were reports that TNT will be placing the game under protest and management has until 12 noon Tuesday to file it formally at the league’s offices.

“It was scary,” Austria said of the slow San Miguel start. “I didn’t think we could ever come back to win (this game).”

The San Miguel coach will be spending the day’s rest to make sure that his charges don’t start the way they did in the series opener, knowing well that TNT is also loaded and will not let another golden chance like this one slip by.

“It’s just a good thing that they (Texters) relaxed after getting that big lead,” Austria said. “We were just able to capitalize on that.”

There were seven players in twin digits for the Texters, who dropped 40 first quarter points only to be held to just 22 in the payoff frame.