BAY AREA dethroned San Miguel Beer with a finals-clinching 94-92 closeout in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals Wednesday night at the MOA Area.
Andrew Nicholson and Kobey Lam played the executioners against the besieged champs, knocking down big-time triples in the stretch to power the Dragons to a 3-1 series victory and set an explosive title duel with Barangay Ginebra.
The Gin Kings booked the first ticket to the best-of-seven finale after finishing off Magnolia, 99-84, in the first game.
After yielding a 98-96 setback in Game 3 that cut their margin to 2-1, the Dragons ensured their advance as they fended off the final stand of the embattled Beermen, whose four missed free throws in the endgame hastened their doom.
"We showed great composure towards the end. They made a big run and we answered back defensively, made the right decisions and played through adversity," said Nicholson, who banged in 42 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the closeout.
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Lam finished with 26 spiked by six triples to back up former NBA player Nicholson as Hayden Blankley chipped in 12.
The Dragons and the Gin Kings will fire the opening salvo right on Christmas Day.
"Excited to be in the final," said Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian who's pitted against the league's winningest mentor, Ginebra's Tim Cone.
"Nothing but respect for Tim Cone, they dominated the semifinals, they dominated the quarterfinals, they dominated the final stretch of the season, they dominated us the first time they played us (111-93). So I'm hoping we got better," he added.
Bay Area stayed on course to become the first foreign squad to cop a PBA title since Nicholas Stoodley in 1980.
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CJ Perez fired 28 while Devon Scott produced 25-19-8 for the Beermen, who also missed out on a followup to their Philippine Cup conquest and a potential grand slam bid for Season 47. (OL)
The Scores:
Bay Area 94 - Nicholson 42, Lam 26, Blankley 12, Zhu 7, Yang 3, Ju 2, Song 2, Liu 0, Reid 0.
San Miguel 92 - Perez 28, Scott 25, Lassiter 14, Fajardo 9, Enciso 5, Cruz 4, Brondial 4, Romeo 3, Ross 0, Manuel 0.
Quarters: 17-16, 46-38, 69-72, 94-92
