San Miguel Beer ignited a furious third-quarter run behind Rodney Brondial, CJ Perez, and June Mar Fajardo to flip a close contest into a 107-82 blowout of Barangay Ginebra, equalizing their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at two games apiece on Wednesday, July 2, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After trailing 50-51 at halftime, the Beermen opened the second half with a 30-12 barrage, fueled by crisp ball movement, intense defense, and contributions from both starters and reserves. Juami Tiongson and Jericho Cruz joined the early push, while Chris Ross, Jeron Teng, and Moala Tautuaa reinforced the momentum off the bench.

Perez finished a layup off a Ross assist, and Teng calmly sank a free throw to stretch the lead to 83-63 early in the fourth quarter. From there, the Beermen never looked back, avenging their 90-100 Game 3 defeat and shifting the best-of-seven series into a deadlock.

Game 5 is scheduled for Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with the winner taking a pivotal 3-2 series lead.

Fajardo returns to form as SMB’s energy returns

“Kailangan talagang manalo, mahirap maging down 1-3 sa series,” said Fajardo, who returned to the starting unit with a commanding 12-point, 19-rebound outing. “Reminder ni coach Leo Austria kailangan itaas ang intensity at i-execute ang game plan, at thankfully, nagawa naman namin.”

Coach Austria echoed the sentiment, noting the improved energy and defensive execution. “Looking at the stats sheet, we see Ginebra getting 18 assists. Mataas pa rin pero mababa sa kanilang average. It proved our defense was working,” he said. “And I saw from the start, in the dugout, ang body language ng team—evident different ang energy.”

CJ Perez led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Tiongson with 14, Brondial and Cruz with 12 each, and Don Trollano adding 11.

Despite a gritty, physical first half that saw no lead grow beyond seven points, the Kings held a slim 51-50 edge at the break. Scottie Thompson had 11, Troy Rosario 10, and Japeth Aguilar chipped in eight points and six boards for Ginebra, which could not keep pace with the Beermen’s relentless second-half onslaught.