PBA: San Mig nears crown

by Jonas Terrado

Arwind Santos atoned himself for an earlier miscue with two pressure-packed charities with 2.2 ticks left as San Miguel Beer eked out a tense 84-80 win over Magnolia in Game 4 and moved a within a win of retaining its PBA Philippine Cup championship last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In a game marked by several twists and turns, the Beermen proved luckier and tougher down the stretch as they foiled Magnolia’s bid to either win the game with a three or extend the game into overtime with a bucket with a huge defensive effort.

But the one-time MVP was at the right place at the right time, picking up the loose ball that led him to scoring the freebies that sealed the deal, giving them an imposing 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven title series.

San Miguel managed to pull through in a see-saw affair despite the four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo laying a fat egg in the fourth quarter.

The Beermen can clinch a record fourth straight PH Cup title with another win tomorrow at the MOA.

With Fajardo limited to just 15 points, it was Alex Cabagnot who almost carried the Beermen to victory with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

The loss was another bitter pill form Magnolia’s Ian Sangalang who fired 22 points.

San Miguel’s defense was rock-solid that it held Paul Lee scoreless in the last quarter. Lee finished with only 9 points.

WARM RECEPTION

Terrence Romeo didn’t get any immediate advice from Jayson Castro, but nonetheless got a warm reception from him and the rest of his new teammates the moment he began practicing for TNT KaTropa yesterday at the Moro Lorenzo gym inside the Ateneo campus.

“Sa ngayon di pa kami gaanong matagal nakakapag-usap about sa serious matter ni kuya Jayson,” Romeo said after practice. “More on batian lang muna, biruan.”

Serious pointers or anything common to it will eventually come, perhaps by the time Romeo gets acclimatized under a different environment at TNT, the team that was finally able to acquire the high-scoring guard from GlobalPort in a trade approved by PBA higher-ups two days earlier.

Scores:
San Miguel 84 – Cabagnot 27, Lassiter 18, Fajardo 15, Santos 13, Rosser 5, Ross 4, Espinas 1, Heruela 0, Pessumal 0.

Magnolia 80 – Sangalang 22, Dela Rosa 15, Barroca 14, Lee 9, Reavis 6, Simon 5, Jalalon 4, Ramos 3, Pascual 2, Gamalinda 0.

Quarters: 14-20, 45-46, 69-64, 84-80