PBA: San Miguel once again shows off its bench depth vs Macau

San Miguel Beermen’s Jeron Teng and Mo Tautuaa on defense against Macau Giant Pandas in the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines— It’s a given that when San Miguel Beer plays, the spotlight will be on reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo. During the PBA Governors’ Cup, much of the limelight is focused on George King.

But on Saturday at Ynares Sports Center in Montalban, the Beermen’s bench made its presence felt.

Against the Giant Pandas, coach Leo Austria had a game plan of giving his second and third groups more exposure. What resulted from that plan was a 131-79 beatdown of Macau.

“We’re trying to do our best for everybody to play because I want them to get playing time,” said Austria. “Before the game and during practice what we wanted to happen was, we wanted all the groups to do well so the third group can do well.”

“Tonight, we had a chance to let the second and third group play longer and they all delivered.”

King shone with limited time, scoring 19 in just 10 minutes of action in the first quarter alone, where the Beermen led, 35-20.

A game between San Miguel Beermen and Macau Giant Pandas in the 2026 PBA Governors Cup that was delayed by the rain. –PBA IMAGES

From there, the reserves took over, helping the Beermen crush Macau by 52 points behind the force of a record-high halftime lead.

Don Trollano led San Miguel with 17 points off the bench, while Jericho Cruz added 14.

Jeron Teng and JM Calma also made the most of their extended minutes, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Mo Tautuaa also helped the cause with eight while Rodney Brondial manned the paint with six points and seven rebounds.

By the end of the game, every San Miguel player had scored, with Paolo Hernandez finishing with three points.

San Miguel’s collective effort kept the Beermen in solo second with a 6-2 record, just behind NLEX (6-1).