Beermen eye 4th straight PH Cup title
By Jonas Terrado
Game Today
(Mall of Asia Arena)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Magnolia
(San Miguel leads series 3-1)
Arwind Santos and the San Miguel Beermen are ready to make their party plans a reality tonight as they are aching to finish off the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok and capture a fourth straight PBA Philippine Cup crown in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Santos didn’t hesitate in expressing his desire to finally savor the championship feeling in the 7 p.m. affair after the Beermen put themselves on the cusp of joining the fabled Crispa Redmanizers as the only teams to win the tournament four straight times with an 84-80 win two nights ago at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Gusto na naming mag-celebrate ng Friday,” Santos said after the Beermen grabbed a commanding 3-1 lead in the series on the night teammate June Mar Fajardo won a record sixth Galvalume 55-PBA Best Player of the Conference award.
“Gusto na naming magpuyat. Ang tagal na naming di nakakatikim ng alcohol.”
Even coach Leo Austria is feeling a sense of confidence that the sixth title in 10 conferences since taking over before the 2014-15 season is all but a mere formally, though refusing to rule out Magnolia’s chances of orchestrating a stunning comeback.
“Meron pa silang natitirang hininga,” Austria said. “At 3-1, I think everything is possible. We should have a good start because knowing this team, Magnolia, they won’t give up until the last buzzer.”
A victory will make San Miguel the first team to win the PBA’s oldest and most prestigious tournament commonly known as the All-Filipino since Crispa completed a four-peat in 1984.
Crispa, however, had to do it in six years as the PBA failed to hold an All-Filipino conference in the 1981 and 1982 seasons, which is why some say that San Miguel’s impending journey is a rare one.
