THERE’S no time to rest on election day on Monday for defending champion San Miguel Beer and its tough customer Magnolia, which are all tied up at 3-3 in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals.
The Beermen managed to swing the pendulum in their favor on Sunday night with an emphatic 98-86 victory to send the series to a winner-take-all Game Seven on Wednesday night also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Hotshots were poised to win it all and foil the Beermen’s quest for a fifth consecutive all-Filipino conference crown—but the defending champions came up with a stronger brew to make it all even.
Monday was election day with the entire country concerned about the exercise and most especially the outcome. But neither the Beermen nor Hotshots could take a break at this crucial stage of the series.
The coaches, Leo Austria of San Miguel Beer and Chito Victolero of Magnolia, preferred to confine themselves in their war rooms to map out a winning strategy for the winner-take-all Game Seven.
“In the past few days, there’s no time to practice. I mean, we don’t have any physical activities. We keep on studying the film, and some shooting, that’s it,” said Austria, who ordered for intense practice at the Acropolis Gym in Quezon City on Monday.
The victory in Game Six, according to Austria, gave them the momentum.
“We have a good chance to grab it again. Let’s see what kind of adjustments they’re going to have. In our series, the pattern was win-loss, win-loss, hopefully we can break it in Game Seven,” he added.
The Beermen led by as many as 21 points in the first half of Game Six and held on to the end in a show of offensive might.
Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo scattered 23 points and hauled 18 rebounds for San Miguel Beer.
Marcio Lassiter had 20 points, while Chris Ross and Christian Standhardinger collected 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Victolero also gathered his team at the Ronac Gym in San Juan City.
The Hotshots had 17 points from Jio Jalalon and 16 from veteran Rafi Reavis. Mark Barroca, who hit the game-winning jumper in Game Five, was limited to six points in a 3-of-10 shooting.
“We know it’s going to be a tough course to win the title. But there’s still an opportunity and we are positive about it,” Victolero said. “We need to practice even through its election day.”