By REYNALD MAGALLON
On the day of hearts, San Miguel made sure to display one fitting for a true champion.
Trailing for the most part of the contest, the Beermen drilled timely triples down the stretch to finish off Magnolia, 104-102, in Game 6 and claim the 2023-’24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Jericho Cruz, Chris Ross and CJ Perez nailed three straight triples that capped a furious fourth quarter onslaught from the Beermen that proved to be enough to erase a double-digit deficit and hoist the franchise’s record-extending 29th crown.
Perez lived up to his Best Player of the Conference tag, shrugging off foul trouble in the first half to still finish with a playoffs career-high 28 points. The high-flying guard actually poured in 24 of his total in the last two quarters – none bigger than the booming triple that gave SMB a four-point cushion, 103-99 with 48 seconds left.
June Mar Fajardo was also a force underneath with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds while Bennie Boatwright made up for a poor shooting, a measly 8-of-24 clip from the field with an all-around game of 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Heroes were also plenty for the Beermen with Cruz and Don Trollano finishing with 12 and 10 points respectively while Ross who was misfiring all throughout the conference had nine points to his name.
Paul Lee paced the Hotshots with 25 points but was not enough to keep his team at the driver seat despite leading by as many as 11 points early in the payoff period.
Tyler Bey also had 18 points and eight rebounds while Ian Sangalang finished with 16 points all in a losing effort.
