Jericho Cruz. PBA . IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Jericho Cruz helped San Miguel overcome Blackwater on Wednesday after a side opener at the PBA Governors’ Cup three days ago.
Cruz leads all scorers in Beermen’s 105-86 victory over Bossing with 22 points in a brilliant 9/13 shot from the field after scoring just two in last Sunday’s win over Phoenix at Antipolo.
The veteran guard attributes his bounce back to his coaches.
“Of course, the coaching staff [gets credit] because they give me confidence. In our first game, I had a bad outing. All I do is go back to the drawing board,” Cruz said.
“I told myself I’d be back in the next game,” he added.
Cruz successfully completed 3 of 4 attempts from long range, while also having 3 rebounds and 3 assists in nearly 27 minutes coming on from the bench.
“The players are playing well, they are defending well, that’s why I think our attack is also increasing. It’s because of their defense,” said SMB coach Jorge Gallent
The 32-year-old Cruz also made an impact on the defence, where he kept Ato Ular down to six points from three out of nine shots from the field. Ular scored 14 points, 11 rebounds in a win over Phoenix last Friday.
Despite another massive win for the second straight game, San Miguel once again saw its 30-point lead dwindle — the same thing happened in the previous game against Phoenix.
“We have to play smarter. In the first half, we ran and ran and then we stopped.”
The Beermen started 3-0 against Terrafirma Dyip on Friday in Antipolo.
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