It was a perfect Thursday evening in San Andres, Manila as the San Juan Knights go 3-0 in the MPBL Lakan Season, dismantling the Rizal Golden Coolers with relative ease on a 101-86 beatdown.
After two nailbiting victories over Bacoor and Pasay, the Knights opened July with a one-sided rout of the then-Crusaders, with the absence of skipper Mac Cardona not even a major concern for Randy Alcantara.
John Wilson lead by example for the defending champions by firing for 25 points to lead all scorers as San Juan hit 55 percent as a team, with Mike Ayonayon chipping in 15.
The word smooth was just an understatement for the Knighs as they pulled away from a close contest in the first with a crippling 11-0 run to lead by six at the end of the opening quarter.
Even as Rizal inched to within a half-dozen, it was just the closest they got to the defending National Champions with San Juan turned on the screws in the second half, blowing the game wide open by hiking their lead to a game-high 27, 96-69 with 3:20 to go after they hit 12 straight to formalize their third straight win.
The scores:
San Juan 101 -- Wilson 25, Ayonayon 15, Clarito 8, Wamar 8, Reyes 8, Saitanan 7, Isit 7, Rodriguez 7, Tajonera 5, Estrella 4, Salvado 3, Aquino 2, Ubalde 2, Pelayo 0
Rizal 86 -- Rios 16, Vidal 15, Lozada 14, Benitez 13, Inigo 7, Raflores 5, Regalado 5, Ombecan 4, Leynes 4, Saliente 2, Butel 1, Lacastesatos 0, Bautista 0, Bacay 0
Quarter scores: 25-19, 54-39, 73-59, 101-86
Pinoyliga is the digital media partner of the San Juan Knights.