San Miguel showed poise yet again to beat Ginebra, 94-91, to sweep its way into the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Sunday night.
June Mar Fajardo sank his freebies with 8.7 seconds left to stretch the lead to five, and Bennie Boatwright sealed the deal by blocking Tony Bishop as the Beermen booked their first trip to the Big Dance since the 2022 Philippine Cup.
Now, the perennial contenders will wait for the winner between Magnolia and Phoenix Super LPG for their foes in the best-of-7 title bout. The Hotshots are up 2-1 and will look to finish it off in Game 4 on Wednesday in the same venue.
“It’s just composure,” offered head coach Jorge Gallent, who’s bound for his first Finals appearance since taking over the helm for the franchise. “The players were very composed, especially in the endgame.”
Boatwright finished with a game-high 26 points on six three-pointers and 13 rebounds to lead SMB in the vengeful sweep against the team that finished them off in three games in the 2023 Governors’ Cup best-of-5 semis.
Jericho Cruz produced 17 points off the bench. Marcio Lassiter contributed 14 points spiked by a pair of treys, five rebounds, two assists, and four steals.
Fajardo and CJ Perez delivered 11 apiece and combined for 20 of the team’s 54 rebounds in the victory that brought the franchise to its 44th Finals trip.
The troika of Lassiter, Cruz, and Perez helped out Boatwright in the 10-2 run that gave San Miguel the 90-79 lead with 4:50 left to play.
“Game One, Game Two, Game Three it was anybody’s ballgame. But we came out with the victory because of our composure and wanting not to lose. That’s our mentality. And to execute in the endgame,” said Gallent.
Bishop, meanwhile, had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead the Barangay in the loss that ended their reign as conference champions.
Scottie Thompson made 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Japeth Aguilar made 12 points and seven boards, while Jamie Malonzo and BPC race leader Christian Standhardinger added 10 points apiece in the defeat.
Malonzo, though, was not able to finish the game after suffering an apparent left knee injury at the 4:40-mark of the third quarter.
It was a big blow for the Kings yet they still tried to put up one last fight late behind Standhardinger, but the Beermen could no longer be denied as they punched their ticket to the Finals while riding on a nine-game winning streak.
The Scores:
San Miguel 94 – Boatwright 26, Cruz 17, Lassiter 14, Perez 11, Fajardo 11, Trollano 6, Teng 6, Ross 3, Brondial 0, Tautuaa 0.
Ginebra 91 – Bishop 25, Thompson 17, J.Aguilar 12, Malonzo 10, Standhardinger 10, Tenorio 8, Pringle 5, Pinto 2, Ahanmisi 2.
Quarterscores: 21-18, 43-42, 75-69, 94-91.
