PBA: Don Trollano rises from scoreless slump to power Beermen bench

San Miguel Beermen’s Don Trollano during a PBA Philippine Cup game against Phoenix. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—All the San Miguel Beermen needed to pull away from Phoenix in the PBA Philippine Cup was its second unit.

In that unit, of course, was Don Trollano, who paced the Beermen to a dominant 111-92 win at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Sunday.

Following a tightly contested first quarter where the Beermen led by just one, 30-29, Trollano came alive in the second quarter and helped bury the Fuel Masters for the rest of the game.

READ: PBA: Don Trollano sparks San Miguel beatdown of Phoenix

“We need to step up when the first group is struggling so the mindset is just to win, we can’t lose back-to-back games,” said Trollano.

“I had a bad game the last time and I was so eager to bounce back and thankfully, I got it.”

Trollano was scoreless in San Miguel’s loss to TNT, 89-84, in their previous outing. But this time, he exploded for 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals on 53.8 percent shooting.

READ: PBA: TNT finally ends slump, beats San Miguel for its first win

Coach Leo Austria lauded Trollano and the Beermen’s bench, which lifted the team to a 4-2 record in the standings.

“Usually, we rely on our bench because these players can be starters but they have to know that every player is important,” said the veteran tactician.

Helping Trollano on offense was, predictably, June Mar Fajardo, who posted a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds. CJ Perez led all scorers with 26 points.

Phoenix dropped to 2-4, though rookie Kai Ballungay stood out with 23 points in the loss.

Up next for Trollano and the Beermen is a matchup against Terrafirma on May 18 at Ynares Center II in Montalban, Rizal.