Mar 17, 2018

San Miguel marches to Finals


Barangay Ginebra refused to raise the white flag, but San Miguel Beer neither surrendered its resolve and banked on much steadier stand in the clutch to pull off a 100-94 victory and claim the first berth in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

Foiled in their grand slam bid the last time, the Beermen are on track for another special feat, gunning for an all-Filipino four-peat against either the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots or the NLEX Road Warriors.

But first, the Beermen will enjoy at least a five-day breather while waiting for the winner of the other semi-final series.

The Beermen won theirs in five games, disposing of the very team that crushed their grand slam hopes last conference.

June Mar Fajardo and his teammates warded off the Gin Kings' all-out stand to book a fourth straight Philippine Cup final stint and 39th overall in franchise history.
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"Nakita natin na nag-all out sila dahil their backs are against the wall. Hindi namin sila nakitaan ng white flag. They came out really strong. But our players refused to lose," said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

The Beermen eventually pulled through as Alex Cabagnot hit two clutch shots to break a 94-all deadlock while the Kings went without a basket in the last three minutes and 48 seconds of the contest.

"Kailangan ng ipanalo ang series. Pagod na kami. Kung hahaba pa mas nakakapagod. Buti nakuha na namin ang panalo," said Fajardo.

"So proud kami dahil fourth straight all-Filipino finals. Pero alam namin na hindi ito ganon kadali. Kahit sino makalaban namin, hindi magro-roll over. Kailangan kunin namin," Fajardo also said.

Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Cabagnot formed a solid five that foiled Japeth Aguilar's 32-point explosion and Scottie Thompson's triple-double job of 16 rebounds, 16 assists and 10 points.
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Fajardo and Lassiter fired 25 points apiece, Santos churned out double-double numbers with 13 rebounds and 11 points while Rosser and Cabagnot contributed 14 and 12 markers, respectively, in their series-clinching victory.

The Beermen really had to work hard for it.

The Kings built a pair of 12-point leads early on and had crucial runs in the third period and early in the fourth only to flounder at the finish.

The Beermen had their first decisive move in wiping out a seven-point deficit in a 30-second stretch to force a 55-all deadlock at the half.(SB)

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 100 - Fajardo 25, Lassiter 23, Ganuelas-Rosser 14, Cabagnot 12, Santos 11, Ross 5, Espinas 5, De Ocampo 4, Pessumal 1.

BARANGAY GINEBRA 94 - J. Aguilar 32, Mercado 14, Ferrer 10, Thompson 10, Devance 9, Tenorio 8, R. Aguilar 7, Cruz 4, Caguioa 2, Caperal 0.

Quarters: 25-34, 55-55, 83-76, 100-94.