By REYNALD MAGALLON
Banking on its wealth of experience in the playoffs, San Miguel came back from 19 points down to turn back and sweep the hard-fighting Rain or Shine, 107-100, in their best-of-seven semifinals series in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, May 24.
The Beermen went on a tear in the waning minutes and unloaded a back-breaking 16-2 run that completely took the wind out of the Elasto Painters’ sails to book their return trip to the finals.
Limited to just six points and nine rebounds in the first half, June Mar Fajardo came alive and finished with 17 points and 23 rebounds on top of six assists to spearhead the huge uprising for SMB in the second half.
CJ Perez also exploded for 26 points including the booming triple that capped the late push and gave SMB a 104-100 lead with 25 seconds left. Don Trollano continued his fine play from Game 3 with 20 points – 13 of which came in the final frame when SMB exploded for 32 points.
He added eight rebounds to his name while Jericho Cruz added 11 and 10 points apiece.
ROS actually looked poised to extend the series to a Game 5 after providing big answers to every SMB run in the third frame and early in the fourth.
The Elasto Painters, behind the stellar plays from Gian Mamuyac and Adrian Nocum, erected a 73-54 lead early in the third quarter.
SMB cut the deficit to single digits numerous times but ROS held on until a Mamuyac drive and a Beau Belga trey reestablished a 98-91 lead after SMB came close to just two points.
ROS, however, lost steam to the firepower of SMB, only mustering two points the rest of the contest – a drought that the seasoned Beermen made sure to take advantage of.
The loss wasted a 30-point explosion from Mamuyac while Nocum and Leonard Santillan finished with 14 apiece.
