SAN MIGUEL Beer blew the lights out on TNT Tropang Giga in the fourth quarter to run away with a 119-97 victory and regain the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup before an SRO crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
Nobody thought a Finals series between two of the toughest teams in the league and went the full route would end up this way—a rout.
The sudden-death game was close in the first three quarters with the Beermen behind,29-31, after the first quarter, ahead 66-56 at the half, 66-56, only to find themselves trailing, 84-89, entering the final period.
But a different Beermen—with fire in their eyes and hands that just couldn’t miss the rim—played the crucial quarter, outscoring the Tropang Giga, 35-8, to settle the issue minutes from the final buzzer with an insurmountable 119-94 advantage.
Perhaps there was no head coach Chot Reyes manning the TNT beach—he missed the most important game because of health protocols, his third after Games 2 and 3 in favor of national team duties—but the Beermen just couldn’t be denied the triumph with almost everyone fielded by head coach Leo Austria making decisive contributions.
“I cannot imagine myself that we’re going to win another championship despite struggling in the recent games where we were down 2-3 in the series. We tied it to force a Game 7,” San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austria said.
“When we got into Game 7, I knew my players were very determined to win because most of them have the experience, which rubbed on to the other players,” added Austria, as his bench wizardy was put to a test once more in the series that went back and fourth with his Beermen finding themselves staring at a 2-3 deficit only to force a no-tomorrow duel with a 114-96
Victory in Game 6
CJ Perez, Vic Manuel, Moala Tautuaa and Simon Enciso, as well as bench players Jeepney Faundo and Michael Cañete—who weren’t part of the Beermen crew that won five straight Philippine Cup titles under Austria—went all-in in Game 7 to help the San Miguel Corp. of Ramon S. Ang franchise to its 28th PBA championship.
And there were June Mar Fajardo—named MVP of the series—Marcio Lassiter and, yes, Chris Ross.
Ross hounded, tormented and turned TNT sophomore Mickey Williams into a dud in the payoff periods, forcing the explosive guard to only five points in the second half after scoring 17 in the first two quarters.
Ross was in tears when interviewed by the stadium announcer after the game.
“This is for my dad, I know he’s watching me from heaven,” said Ross, whose dad, William, passed away in the US last November. “It was one tough year for me and I dedicate this win to him.”
Perez exploded for 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field and issued seven assists, while Fajardo had 19 points and 18 rebounds. Manuel racked up 16 points in the game witnessed by a crowd of 15,195.
Lassiter (15), Tautuaa (13), Enciso (12) and Ross (12) also scored in double figures for the champions.
The Tropang Giga? They fell and rolled over when the game was on the line.
JP Erram was slapped with a flagrant foul penalty 2 with 55 seconds left before halftime after deliberately hitting a driving Tautuaa on the head. He was bounced.
Jayson Castro tried to carry TNT on his shoulders by scattering 32 points on top of 10 rebounds and eight assists.