By REYNALD MAGALLON
On the verge of falling to a 0-2 hole in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the San Miguel faithful inside the Araneta Coliseum could only hold their palms together and utter a little prayer for their team that has surprisingly struggled against Meralco.
And they were miraculously answered.
Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez nailed a pair of cold-blooded triples inside the final 22 seconds as the Beermen saved some blushes and hacked out a pulsating 95-94 victory in Game 2 to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1 on Friday, June 7.
With the chance of winning looking bleak again after facing the same offensive struggle against Bolts defense, Perez and Lassiter provided the saving grace for SMB which could have fallen to a disastrous deficit in their own title defense.
It was Perez who first showed nerves of steel and drilled a booming triple that answered a Chris Banchero trey from the other end to keep SMB within striking distance 92-93 with 22 seconds left.
A Banchero split from the foul line in the next Meralco possession left a window open for the Beermen as Perez found Lassiter deep into the left corner in the next play. Flaunting the veteran poise, the SMB sharpshooter shook off the defense of Bong Quinto and drained a clutch step back triple that put his team ahead, 95-94 with 13 seconds remaining.
Banchero still had the chance to win it for Meralco but his layup, likewise, rattled out.
Just like that, the entire SMB fans in attendance which were left in silence erupted in frenzy as the Beermen suddenly pumped life to its title-retention bid which for the first seven and a half quarters of the series had been battered by the Meralco’s tough defensive stand.
Game 3 of the thrilling series is on Sunday, June 9 at the same venue.
Saddled by foul trouble in the series opener, Perez vowed to make his presence felt in Game 2 and avoid the lousy fouls that limited his impact in the game.
He had three fouls in the first half of Game 2 although he refused to get affected and exploded for a playoff career-high 34 points – 20 of which he fired in the first two quarters.
Lassiter was silent all-game long but managed to deliver the killing blows down the stretch to finish with six points while June Mar Fajardo added 17 points and 13 rebounds on top of his three blocks.
Buoyed by the suddenly offensive-minded Cliff Hodge along with their signature defense, Meralco actually seized control most of the second half, even taking a 79-70 lead at one point of the contest.
They survived a spurt of offensive onslaught from the Beermen but they still restored order and kept a four-point cushion before disaster struck.
Hodge finished with season-high 25 points on top of nine rebounds while Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome had 16 and 14 points respectively in a losing effort.
