The San Miguel Beermen did not allow another breakdown to take place and downed the Magnolia Hotshots, 92-77, to tie the 2018 Philippine Cup Finals to a game apiece, Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We learned our lesson from the last game,” said head coach Leo Austria, recalling Game One last Friday where they lost, 103-105. “Last time lumamang kami ng 20 hinabol nila. I have to give credit to my players, ayaw magpatalo.
“We’re disappointed and frustrated sa first game namin. Makikita mo sila although we had a bad start, after tying the game, nakita sa kanila na ayaw na mag-give in. I think we are able to adjust to the kind of defense they are throwing,” the reigning Coach of the Year asserted.
Arwind Santos paced the Beermen with 24 points and eight rebounds. Marcio Lassiter had 16 markers, while Alex Cabagnot made 15 points, eight assists, and five boards. June Mar Fajardo had 12 points and 13 caroms.
Eerily similar to the Finals’ curtain-rasier, the Beermen were leading by as many as 21 late in the third, but squandered their advantage, as the Hotshots made an 11-0 rally to open the payoff period and knock within distance, 75-68, with 8:23 to go.
Santos then responded with a triple to end San Miguel’s dry spell, and that sparked a 10-0 blitz en route to an 85-68 edge with 4:47 left to play — more than enough to keep the Hotshots at bay and coast to the series-tying win.
“Now we’re able to reduce the series to a best-of-five. We’ll see what happens,” added Austria on the win. “We have a lot of work to do dahil alam naman natin na ang Magnolia, they’re really determined to win the championship.”
Brian Heruela chipped in 10 markers and three steals off the bench for San Miguel.
Mark Barroca led Magnolia with 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Paul Lee had 13 points on 13 shots, while Ian Sangalang — who had a career-best 29 points in Game One — only had 11 markers with five boards and two steals.
Fouls were one of the issues for the Hotshots this Game Two, as they were whistled for 22 times, which led to 15-of-15 free throws for the Beermen. Magnolia, meanwhile, only shot 4-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Game Three will be on Easter Sunday, April 1, 6:30 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
San Miguel 92 — Santos 24, Lassiter 16, Cabagnot 15, Fajardo 12, Heruela 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Ross 5, Mamaril 4, De Ocampo 0, Vigil 0.
Magnolia 77 — Barroca 18, Lee 13, Sangalang 11, Dela Rosa 7, Ramos 7, Jalalon 6, Pascual 4, Reavis 4, Brondial 3, Herndon 2, Simon 2, Mendoza 0.
Quarterscores: 19-17, 48-35, 75-57, 92-77.
