Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

Quiet all series long, Alex Cabagnot emerges as hero in Game 7


Safe to say, Alex Cabagnot did not make much noise for the majority of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

After finishing with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting back in Game One – which his San Miguel lost – Cabagnot seemingly lost his touch in the next five games. He only shot a total of 26 percent, including a 1-of-12 clip in Game Six.

But come the all-important Game Seven on Wednesday night, the guard emerged as the hero the Beermen needed.

After helping his side fight back from a deep 17-point deficit, the 36-year-old then sank a cold-blooded fade-away jumper all over Magnolia Hotshots’ defense with 57.2 seconds left to play to give the Beermen a 72-71 point lead.

San Miguel kept that score all the way until the final buzzer. They also extended their dynasty in the All-Filipino setting for the fifth straight year – a feat that no one else in the league has ever achieved.

Cabagnot finished with 18 points on 42-percent shooting along with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. But as big as his shot was – since it basically gave his side the historic feat – Cabagnot lauded their defense in the endgame.

San Miguel defended Jio Jalalon well from point-blank range to make him miss what would have been an easy deuce. They then prevented the Hotshots from setting up a decent shot in the final 4.8 seconds to secure the win.

“We made some defensive stops with our best defensive lineup in there.

“And in the championship, defense wins games and the last two possessions, we saw it in the last two possessions we had defensively,” said Cabagnot.

#ReadMore  Frustration got the best of Beermen, rues Austria

The 14-year veteran has now collected his eighth PBA championship. And for Cabagnot, this is one of the hardest title bouts he had gone through.

2019-pba-philippine-cup-finals-game-7-san-miguel-def-magnolia-leo-austria Quiet all series long, Alex Cabagnot emerges as hero in Game 7 Basketball News PBA  - philippine sports news

“It has to be one of them. Out of eight probably it’s one of the toughest,” he said. “We came back from seventeen down. Just the situation: being down big tapos our shots weren’t going in, tapos we were making careless turnovers.

“So we had to just regroup, stay positive, and just continue playing hard and sticking with the game plan.”

This batch of Beermen has additionally made a case of being the best All-Filipino crew ever. But if there will be worries that they might settle, Cabagnot said their hunger to win will never fade.

“It’s always there naman. I think that’s the curse of winning. The more you win, the more you wanna feel it. The more you don’t want to feel losing. So when people say how do we keep the hunger, I think if you’ve won anything, you wanna continue winning,” said Cabagnot.

“You don’t wanna feel. It’s a tough defeat when we lost to Ginebra in the second conference last year (2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals). We felt it, we stepped it up. We just had to do due diligence and make things happen.”

Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.


You May Also Like

Basketball

Gilas Pilipinas Men head coach Tim Cone isn’t expecting much from the national team’s first practice on Monday ahead of the FIBA Asia Cup...

Basketball

LA Tenorio turned back the clock and saved Barangay Ginebra from the jaws of defeat against San Miguel, 88-87, to force a Game 7...

Basketball

Jericho Cruz kept it simple entering Game 5 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinals, and that led to one of his best...

Basketball

San Miguel finally broke the trend by subduing Ginebra, 103-92, to move one win away from the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals, Friday...

Basketball

June Mar Fajardo continues to brave a risky calf injury simply to lead by example for San Miguel in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup...

Basketball

It’s back to square one for the sister teams as San Miguel denied Ginebra of inching closer to the Big Dance following a 107-82...

Basketball

June Mar Fajardo admitted that a small tear was found on his injured calf, which he continues to nurse in the ongoing PBA Season...

Basketball

RJ Abarrientos starred as Barangay Ginebra got back at San Miguel, 100-90, to take the 2-1 lead in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup...

Advertisement