MANILA - Veteran San Miguel guard Alex Cabagnot returned after a four-game absence and made an immediate impact for the Beermen in their crucial showdown against the Blackwater Elite on Wednesday.

Cabagnot had not played since SMB's season-opening loss to Columbian Dyip. He missed their next game against Barangay Ginebra due to a hamstring issue and sat out their next three contests as well as he waited for the doctor's go-signal.

The guard is still recovering from surgery to fix his broken nose and needs to wear a mask in their games.

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"So far, he's okay," SMB coach Leo Austria said of Cabagnot. "Actually, the doctor is still not giving him the full clearance. We have to manage his minutes, but he's really eager to play eh, because he wants to win."

Cabagnot played just under 25 minutes, tallying 19-points and 5-assists in a 93-79 rout of the Elite. He had 7 points in the payoff period when the Beermen pulled away from a pesky Blackwater squad that had hung around for most of the first half.

"Thank God na I got to play today," said the guard afterward. "All the therapy sessions -- I'm still gonna continue to do it -- pero all the therapy sessions wasn't in vain, it wasn't in vain at all."

Cabagnot had wanted to play last Friday when San Miguel took on the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Unfortunately for him, his doctor would not give him the green light just ye.

"I was very excited. We did ultrasound, just the typical therapy stuff. I really thought I was gonna get the go-signal on Friday, last Friday yata," he explained.

"Pero si doktora, she said no."

The Beermen wound up losing to the Elasto Painters, 108-98. It was their second straight loss, putting the defending champions at 2-3.

Austria felt that the Beermen's skid motivated Cabagnot to come back despite not being fully cleared. "Ayaw niyang nakikita yung team na natatalo eh," the coach said.

Cabagnot, for his part, says he will still have to go through therapy for his healing nose -- a process that he describes as tedious but necessary.

"I'm getting there," he said when asked if he was at 100% already.

"Actually, it's just my timing, just little kinks here and there. But we still have to stay on top of it. It's a tedious process, pero it's something that we have to stay on top of para hindi madisgrasya ulit," Cabagnot added.

Cabagnot suffered the broken nose in December 2016, during a game against the Meralco Bolts. However, he put off surgery to focus on San Miguel's campaigns in the PBA, along with his responsibility to the national team and to the UP Fighting Maroons, of which he is part of the coaching staff.

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