ANTIPOLO — San Miguel moved a win away from defending its PBA Philippine Cup kingship following a solid display of resolve to frustrate TNT, 96-82, in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Finals at the Ynares Center here, Friday night.
The Beermen fell to the Tropang 5G’s hot shooting from deep early and stared at a 23-7 deficit, but slowly clawed their way back and made it just a one-point gap entering the halftime intermission, before totally turning the tables for good.
Coach Leo Austria’s charges erupted for 30 big points in the third canto while limiting the other team to only 13 for a 77-61 advantage, and the game would never be in doubt as their rivals got cold on offense, never to recover.
So stagnant was TNT’s offense that it failed to capitalize on the absence of June Mar Fajardo, who got hurt late in the third and had to stay on the bench for a while before being inserted back with 6:13 remaining in the game.
The nine-time MVP went on to help apply the final touches and would finish with 14 points and 11 rebounds but he didn’t have to do some heavy lifting this time as plenty others stepped up to the plate to deliver the crucial win.
Rodney Brondial was among those who filled in the void left by Fajardo and eventually finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead the way.
Don Trollano had 14 points as well alongside seven rebounds. Kris Rosales supplied 12 points as he proved to be the ‘magic bunot’ this time around.
Mo Tautuaa tallied an 11-6-7 stat line. Marcio Lassiter also had 11 while CJ Perez added 10 as a total of seven players scored in double figures in the impressive bounce-back after getting blown out in Game 4 two nights ago.
