BEHIND a monster 20-20 game by Cebuano big man June Mar Fajardo, the San Miguel Beermen breezed through the semifinal round following a 101-94 dispatching of the NLEX Road Warriors in their quarterfinal duel on Thursday night, Dec. 25, at the Araneta Coliseum.

The league’s Christmas Day offering saw the Beermen pull away in the second half to become the first team to make it to the Final 4 and boosted their title-retention bid.

The Beermen are the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and were armed with a twice-to-beat bonus against the eight-seeded Warriors.

San Miguel didn’t have to rely on its twice-to-beat incentive as Fajardo dominated and finished with 26 points and 23 rebounds.

Fajardo unloaded 16 of his total output in the final half that enabled the Beermen to post double-digit leads after trailing at the bend, 47-53.

Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano, and CJ Perez helped the Beermen’s cause by firing 18, 17, and 14 points, respectively.

The victory was San Miguel’s 10th straight, never losing again after starting the tournament with back-to-back losses.

Robert Bolick led the eliminated Road Warriors with a game-high 31 points.

THE SCORES:

SAN MIGUEL BEER (101) – Fajardo 26, Cruz 18, Trollano 17, Perez 14, Brondial 8, Tautuaa 6, Lassiter 5, Tiongson 4, Cahilog 3, Teng 0, Rosales 0, Ross 0.

NLEX (94) – Bolick 31, Bahio 10, Fajardo 10, Ramirez 9, Alas 9, Onwubere 9, Gonzales 6, Mocon 5, Torres 4, Capulong 1, Policarpio 0, Rodger 0, Nieto 0.QUARTERSCORES: 28-29, 47-53, 79-72, 101-94.(CCM)

• Tags
• #San Miguel Beermen
• #NLEX Road Warriors
• #Dec. 25
• #Araneta Coliseum
• #semifinal
• #Final 4
• #No. 1 seed
• #twice-to-beat
• #June Mar Fajardo
• #26 points
• #23 rebounds
• #16 points second half
• #Jericho Cruz 18
• #Don Trollano 17
• #CJ Perez 14
• #Robert Bolick 31
• #10th straig