ARWIND Santos atoned for a big miscue down the stretch by sinking the game-winning basket in San Miguel Beer's 88-86 squeaker over gritty NorthPort Sunday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Santos capped the Beermen's well-executed play off a timeout by taking the pass from Marcio Lassiter and coolly sinking the straightaway 15-footer that proved to be the climax in the nail-biting finish.
"Ako hindi ko iniisip kung ano na edad ko ngayon," said Santos, who turned 40 years old last month. "Ang iniisip ko kung paano pa rin ako makakapag-contribute sa mga kabataan ng magagaling ngayon."
Indeed, Santos did not show his age, ultimately complementing CJ Perez's 18 points, eight rebounds and five steals with 17 points, five boards and three blocked shots.
Both teams came into the game looking for a second straight win in three games, but it was coach Leo Austria's charges who came out victor in the end despite blowing a 16-point lead and a nine-point fourth quarter.
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"I hope this momentum magtuloy-tuloy na because we have another game on Wednesday and after Blackwater we have two big teams, Ginebra and Magnolia," said Austria. "This (win) is badly needed and I'm happy na we snatched this game dahil this could give us some momentum going to the next three games."
As expected, Greg Slaughter finally saw action for the first time since taking a basketball sabbatical in February of last year while he was still with Ginebra and was even part of NorthPort's starting unit.
The seven-footer showed little effects of the long layoff, finishing with game-highs of 23 points and 17 rebounds, including a hook shot of a follow-up over arch-rival June Mar Fajardo that moved the Batang Pier within 85-86, still 47 seconds left.
Santos almost became the goat when he was slapped with a technical foul after elbowing Sydney Onwubere during a looseball scramble.
Robert Bolick sank the technical free throw to complete NorthPort's rise from a 65-81 deficit and tie the game for the 11th time at 86, still 7.3 seconds left.
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"It's an ugly finish for us, an ugly game for us in the fourth quarter, pero a win is a win. I was expecting this because there was some resistance from the other team because they also want to beat us," said Austria.
The win also extended SMB's dominance over the Mike Romero-owned franchise to 11 since the latter took over the former Coca-Cola franchise following the 2012 season. (NC)
The scores:
San Miguel 88 - Perez 18, Santos 17, Cabagnot 16, Tautuaa 11, Fajardo 8, Pessumal 6, Lassiter 6, Ross 3, Gamalinda 3.
NorthPort 86 - Slaughter 23, Bolick 19, Onwubere 12, Balanza 11, Malonzo 10, Taha 9, Rike 1, Ferrer 1, Elorde 0, Faundo 0, Doliguez 0.
Quarterscores: 21-21; 52-45; 79-63; 88-86.
