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 night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
CJ Perez, Don Trollano, and June Mar Fajardo joined hands for the telling 9-0 run toward a 99-90 lead with 1:04 left to play. And that proved to be enough for the Beermen to win back-to-back games — a first in this particular semis series.
Both the traditional contenders alternated victories through Games 1 to 4 until Coach Leo Austria & Co. successfully followed up their convincing triumph from last Wednesday toward building a critical 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.
“The players knew the importance of this game, kasi usually ang nananalo ng Game 5, malaki ang chance to get into the Finals,” said the champion mentor.
(C) PBA Images
Perez top-scored for San Miguel with a game-high 31 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to preside over their strong closeout of the match.
Jericho Cruz fired a season-high 27 points on an excellent 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, scoring 23 in the middle chapters as he helped out in their second-quarter reversal before maintaining the lead in the ensuing frame.
The Beermen actually trailed by as much as 14, 29-15, early in the second, but gradually found their bearings during the tail end of the said period.
From 10 down, the crew turned it up and went on to unload a 15-2 scoring spree to take the lead for good, 44-41, with 1:47 left before the break.
They’d never let up after that, and showed flashes of the old SMB with their strong windupas they moved a win away from returning to the Finals.
“But we still have a lot of work to do because alam natin ang kalaban naman natin ay never say die, so we’re expecting na the next game, they will come focused and with a lot of energy,” said Austria as Game 6 is set for Sunday.
Fajardo finished with another double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds alongside six assists, while Trollano chipped in 11 markers for San Miguel.
(C) PBA Images
Maverick Ahanmisi, meanwhile, had 19 points to lead Ginebra in the loss that saw the crowd darlings struggle offensively with only a 37-percent shooting clip.
Scottie Thompson had 14 points and nine rebounds, finally hauling down boards after getting none back in Game 4, although he had zero assists.
Jamie Malonzo had 13 points. Japeth Aguilar had 12 points while Troy Rosario supplied 11 points and 16 rebounds in the Barangay’s collapse.
The Scores:
San Miguel 103 – Perez 31, Cruz 27, Fajardo 14, Trollano 11, Tiongson 6, Teng 4, Tautuaa 3, Lassiter 3, Brondial 2, Rosales 2, Ross 0.
Ginebra 92 – Ahanmisi 19, Thompson 14, Malonzo 13, J.Aguilar 12, Rosario 11, Holt 10, David 7, Abarrientos 6, R.Aguilar 0, Gray 0.
Quarterscores: 12-20, 49-44, 74-71, 103-92.
