San Miguel Beer used a late rally in the fourth quarter to stun Tropang TNT, 104-98 Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum and claim the top seed in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Beermen ended the game on a 16-4 blast to secure the top seed entering the quarter-finals. San Miguel will face Star armed with a twice-to-beat edge. TNT will settle for a best-of-three affair against Alaska.
Second-seeded Meralco shall likewise carry a twice-to-beat advantage over NLEX while Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine battle in the other best-of-three series.
“(The win) is very important for us because this is the start of the play-offs. We need one more game to get to the semis. Gusto namin mauna na kami eh. Kung matalo kami, this is a best of three. We treated this game as a play-off game already,” San Miguel head coach Leo Austria said.
“We cannot take Star lightly because they have the momentum. They played very well (last time). But I’d rather face Star rather than Ginebra in the quarter-finals.”
Down 94-88 in the fourth period, Tyler Wilkerson nailed a triple while June Mar Fajardo scored back to back inside to make it 95-94 for the Beermen.
Alex Cabagnot then hit a huge three later on while Wilkerson scored off the glass with only 50.2 seconds left to push the lead to 100-95.
Troy Rosario drained a long range shot in the next play, but Fajardo answered with a put-back to seal the win for San Miguel.
Wilkerson finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists while Fajardo added 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting. The duo combined for 26 of San Miguel’s 36 fourth-quarter points.
Import David Simon carried the Tropa with 32 points and 16 boards, while three others scored in double-digits.
The Scores
San Miguel (104) – Wilkerson 36, Fajardo 18, Cabagnot 10, Lassiter 10, Ross 10, de Ocampo 7, Santos 7, Arana 4, Semerad 2.
TNT (98) – Simon 32, Rosario 14, Tautuaa 10, Williams 10, de Ocampo 9, Ababou 6, Ganuelas 6, Reyes J. 4, Reyes R. 3, Carey 2, Fonacier 2.
Quarterscores: 19-20 , 43-45, 68-72, 104-98.
*Photo courtesy of PBA Images
