San Miguel didn’t just beat a short-handed Macau squad Saturday (August 8) — it rewrote the PBA record books. The Beermen exploded for a 131-79 blowout of the Giant Pandas in PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup action at the Ynares Center-Montalban, building the largest halftime lead in league history behind an early onslaught from import George King and a scorching second-quarter run from Don Trollano.

Macau arrived with just eight able bodies and without import De’Vondre Perry, and it looked like it for most of the night. San Miguel made the mismatch count, using all 14 men on its roster and getting scoring from every single one of them as coach Leo Austria’s club piled up its sixth win in eight games to trail Group A leader NLEX (6-1) by just half a game.

A Record 43-Point Halftime Blitz

King set the tone immediately, erupting for 19 points in the opening quarter alone before Trollano took over in the second to help SMB build an 80-37 lead at the break. The 43-point halftime margin is now the largest in PBA history, eclipsing a mark that had stood since 2008.

“Sa amin, ‘pag lumamang at nag-relax, may lesson na sa amin. Kaya we want the same intensity hanggang matapos,” said Trollano, who finished with 17 points in just 17 minutes. “Tiwala kami sa third group namin. They practice hard, kaya confident kami pagpasok nila, kaya nilang panatilihin ang lamang namin,” he added.

For a stretch in the fourth quarter, San Miguel even threatened the league’s all-time winning margin — Rain or Shine’s 56-point demolition of Blackwater, 151-95, last March 31 — before Macau strung together a few late baskets to avoid further embarrassment.

Bench Mob Outscores Macau’s Entire Team

The depth of San Miguel’s rout was staggering. The Beermen’s reserves alone outscored Macau’s entire roster, 84-25. Jericho Cruz led the bench with 14 points, Jeron Teng added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, while JM Calma was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for 12 points. Marcio Lassiter chipped in 12 as well.

Kobey Lam paced Macau with 24 points, and Damian Chongqui added 23, but the rest of the Giant Pandas’ offense came in fragments. Heavy rain added to the chaos, causing leaks on the Ynares Center roof that forced multiple stoppages in an already disjointed contest.

Macau fell to 2-6 and won’t return to action until October, when it closes out group play against NLEX, Terrafirma, TNT and Converge.