Christian Standhardinger stepped up big time to help San Miguel Beer defeat NLEX 125-112 in their debut game of the PBA Governors Cup, Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite coming fresh off their recent Asian Games campaign, Standhardinger did not show any signs of fatigue as he poured a career-high 36 points to lead the team, together with AZ Reid who had 30.
Coach Leo Austria appreciated the rookie saying that his desire to win inspired his teammates to bounce back and win despite the Road Warriors leading in the early stages of the game. The Beermen led at the break with eight points, 62-54. They never looked back after that.
NLEX lost despite the 36 points poured in by Aaron Fuller. Coach Yeng Guiao showed up at the Big Dome not to coach but to watch his team for the first time this Governors Cup.
Alex Cabagnot contributed 23 points while Marcio Lassiter added 14 for the Beermen who are playing without the injured star Junemar Fajardo.
Final Score: 125-112
Top Scorers:
(SMB) Standhardinger 36, Reid 30, Cabagnot 23
(NLEX) Fuller 36, Miranda 16, Ighalo 16
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