San Miguel took the PBA 48th Season Commissioner’s Cup finals to the SM Mall of Asia Arena, where they defeated Magnolia Chicken Timplados 109-85 on Sunday to take a 2-0 series lead.

Bennie Boatwright led the Beermen in three-point shooting with 34 points on 7 of 16 attempts. The team relied heavily on this strategy.

SMB’s two-game lead in the best-of-seven championship series, which will resume at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, comes from a combined 16 three-point shooting effort.

With Boatwright on the team, San Miguel has won 11 straight games going into Game Three and is still undefeated.

Magnolia only made seven shots in the game as a result of their inability to counter San Miguel’s prolific outside shooting.

Even though he scored 22 points, Tyler Bey had to work for every one of them as he only made 8 of 22 from the field.

In the first quarter, the Beermen jumped out to a 31-16 advantage and never looked back. In the third quarter, San Miguel’s lead increased to 28 points, 72-44.

June Mar Fajardo finished the game with 19 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while CJ Perez finished with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two threes.

Magnolia was only ahead 3-2 in the early going of the match.

Head coach Jorge Gallent expressed worry over the Beermen’s final-game deficit of up to 20 points, despite the team’s victory.

The locals, led by CJ Perez with 19 points, provided assistance to Bennie Boatwright, who spearheaded the Beermen’s offensive with 28 points and 16 rebounds.

After taking a 26–15 lead on fastbreak points, San Miguel will want to maintain its strong shooting, where it made seven more three-pointers than Magnolia, and its transition game.

Coach Chito Victolero of Magnolia recognized a bright spot in the defeat, particularly after Joseph Eriobu, Russell Escoto, and Jed Mendoza’s third group reduced San Miguel’s lead.

Victolero, nevertheless, is optimistic that Magnolia can recover despite giving up 41 points in the third quarter—a significant amount for a squad that places a high value on defense.

Jio Jalalon, Paul Lee, and Calvin Abueva combined for 8 of 33 from the field, thus Magnolia would also undoubtedly like to see much better shooting from these players.

The Scores

San Miguel 109 – Boatwright 34, Perez 20, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 11, Cruz 10, Trollano 5, Ross 3, Tautuaa 2, Teng 2, Jimenez 2, Mallilin 1, Romeo 0.

Magnolia 85 – Bey 22, Barroca 11, Escoto 10, Sangalang 8, Jalalon 6, Corpuz 5, Lee 5, Dela Rosa 4, Mendoza 4, Abueva 3, Laput 3, Tratter 2, Eriobu 2, Ahanmisi 0, Dionisio 0.

Quarters scores:  31-25; 54-41; 79-58; 109-85.