Bennie Boatwright fires 51 as SMB routs Terrafirma to boost Top 4 bid

Bennie Boatwright erupted for 51 points as San Miguel Beer thumphed the hard-fighting Terrafirma, 132-110, to keep its chase for a quarterfinals bonus in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 7.

The Beermen had too much firepower and annihilated the Dyip, pulling away from a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair in the second half to pick up their seventh win in the conference against three losses.

SMB actually had to shake off some jitters following a two-week break after starting the game flat and falling behind 8-0 early on. Boatwright, though, got the Beermen’s engine going, pumping in 23 of his total in the first quarter to set the tone to the team’s fiery offensive display all game long.

The SMB import drilled seven triples to go along with his 12 rebounds and two blocks in an impressive performance in just his second game in the PBA. He also became only the third player to reach the 50-point mark in this conference following Meralco’s Zach Lofton and TNT’s Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson just a few days ago.

Terrafirma, practically playing with nothing anymore to lose after getting booted out of contention by Rain or Shine’s win over TNT last Friday, put up a huge fight and actually engaged San Miguel to a shootout all throughout the contest.

However, the Beermen were certainly not the one to shy away from a high-scoring contest, breaching the century mark with still 2:50 left in the third – a testament to the team’s firepower that is only reaching its full potential with June Mar Fajardo and Jeron Teng now back on the bench.

Fajardo still didn’t see action while Teng had limited minutes but the Beermen leaned on Don Trollano who fired 22 points and Mo Tautuaa who added 16 points and seven rebounds to provide support to Boatwright.

CJ Perez also chipped in 16 while Terrence Romeo had 12 points and seven assists. Chris Ross only had one point but dished out 10 assists.

The Dyip though kept it close even in the final frame, only down by 10, 112-102 before the Beermen put on a decisive 12-4 run to build an 18-point lead, 124-106, with 3:16 left.

Javi Gomez De Liano finished paced the Dyip with 26 points while Juami Tiongson and Thomas De Thaey had 17 apiece for the now 2-8 Terrafirma.