By REYNALD MAGALLON
For the first time in the series, the real San Miguel team finally showed up in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
The juggernaut, the dominant, and the mighty Beermen.
June Mar Fajardo spearheaded a huge offensive thrust as San Miguel regained its touch and romped Meralco, 111-101, to even the best-of-seven Finals series to 2-2 in Game 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, June 12.
The 6-foot-10 behemoth displayed exactly why he was the runaway Best Player of the Conference winner, dropping a season-high output of 28 points to inject life to the Beermen’s offense which was practically missing in the first three games of the series.
Rejuvenated after a two-day rest, SMB breached the 100-point barrier in scoring – a benchmark where the Beermen seemed to be invincible after recording a perfect 13-0 slate in such high scoring affairs throughout the conference.
And it was not all Fajardo alone.
While the seven-time MVP lorded over the paint after also collecting 17 rebounds, CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter also fired on all cylinders and provided the outside scoring to complement Fajardo’s complete dominance in the shaded lane.
Perez exploded for 22 points apart from his eight rebounds and six assists while Lassiter caught fire from deep with 18 points built on four triples.
The SMB’s triumvirate actually combined for 37 of the Beermen’s 51 points in the first half while also helping the team fend off the repeated rallies from the hard-fighting Meralco.
The Bolts didn’t back down to the offensive show of the Beermen and actually engaged them to a shootout with Chris Newsome unloading a career-high 40 points – 31 of which came in the second half when he kept Meralco within striking distance despite trailing by as many as 14 points early on.
Chris Banchero supplied 21 points while Cliff Hodge added 17 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort for the Bolts.
Even with the return to form of their vaunted offense, SMB couldn’t simply pull away against Meralco which tied the contest at 36-all after the Beermen opened the game with a blistering 23-9 run.
SMB would restore order, taking a 51-40 advantage at the half, and a 80-71 lead late in the third frame. The Bolts however kept coming and cut the deficit to within single possession on both occasions.
Meralco came closest at three, 88-85, with eight minutes left in the final frame but never got into any kind of run since then as SMB kept a six-point barrier sturdy until the final horn.
