The San Miguel Beermen overcame a slow first half and rode their late-game poise to complete the comeback against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 99-88, in Game 3 of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The victory puts SMB at a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven affair over Ginebra, who played minus reliable big man Jervy Cruz due to a shoulder injury that he had sustained back in Game 2 in Lucena, Quezon.
“Well I thought na we will lose again because they came out really strong,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “Akala ko talo na kami dahi at the start nag-scramble ang offense at defense namin, but we were able to recover after the first half.”
Chris Ross starred once more for the Beermen, leading his side with 24 markers on 7-of-12 shooting along with eight assists and four rebounds. His backcourt partner Alex Cabagnot supplied 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
June Mar Fajardo posted a double-double of 17 points and 18 rebounds along with three blocked shots, while Marcio Lassiter chimed 16 despite shooting just 7-of-18 from the floor.
Once lagging by 12 in the second frame, the Beermen came out strong in the third canto, exchanging blows with the Barangay on offense. With Lassiter, Cabagnot, and Ross chipping in baskets, SMB finally gained leverage and led by five, 69-64, with 1:15 on the clock.
Ginebra were able to turn things in their favor once more, early in the payoff period. With Kevin Ferrer hitting two treys during their run, his side led by four, 86-82, with 5:23 remaining. But that proved to be their last taste of the lead, as Ginebra missed a handful of key shots.
SMB then capitalized on Ginebra’s misfires, erupting to a wild 17-2 spree from the four-point deficit — capped by a Ross triple in the game’s waning seconds — to pull away for good and seal the nine-point, series-leading victory.
But despite the series lead, Austria still remains wary of their given situation, saying that Tim Cone and Ginebra will find ways of leveling the series come Game 4.
“It’s not safe dahil alam naman natin na si Coach Tim Cone, he’s really a great coach, very smart and he can find ways. a lot of things can happen in the next game,” shared Austria.
“They cannot afford to give us another win. At 3-1, you’re in deep hole na especially against us. We experienced that before, so we’ dont want that to happen to us,” Austria furthered.
LA Tenorio paced Ginebra with 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Ferrer backed him up with 15 markers spiked by three triples along with four rebounds. Japeth Aguilar and Chris Ellis each produced 12.
As a team, SMB shot better, hitting 34 of their 73 tries en route to a 47 percent clip. The rebounding battle was also a close one, 48-46, in SMB’s favor.
Game 4 of the series will be on Friday, March 3, 7:00 PM still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
San Miguel (99) – Ross 24, Cabagnot 20, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 16, Santos 9, Tubid 6, Reyes 3, Heruela 2, Espinas 2, Garcia 0.
Ginebra (88) – Tenorio 16, Ferrer 15, Aguilar 12, Ellis 12, Caguioa 11, Thompson 8, Devance 6, Mercado 5, Marcelo 3, Helterbrand 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 19-24, 44-49, 69-66, 99-88.
