San Miguel rallies to beat TNT, gains No. 1
MANILA: San Miguel Beer needed to work extra hard to win a very special prize.
Trailing for most of Friday night, the Beermen waxed hot offensively in the final four minutes and went on to clip Tropang TNT, 104-98, to gain top seeding in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs and avoid tangling with a dreaded foe in the quarterfinals.
Reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and import Tyler Wilkerson were the biggest reasons why the Beermen finished with a flurry, shooting 26 points in the fourth period – a chunk of them during the most crucial stretch – to complete the come-from-behind win for the Beermen at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Fajardo had 14 of his 18 points and Wilkerson 12 of his 36 – their combined fourth quarter total matching TNT’s entire output in that span – as they led the Beermen in finishing with an 8-3 record and winning out in the tiebreaker with idle Meralco for No. 1.
Bagging top seeding gave the Beermen the right to play the eighth-seeded Star Hotshots in the quarterfinals on Monday, and they would need to win just once to march on to the Final Four.
A loss would have put them in No. 5 position, in a collision course with another sister team, Barangay Ginebra, in a best-of-three quarterfinal series.
“The players knew how important this game was. They also do not want to face Ginebra this early (in the quarterfinals),” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “No disrespect (to the Hotshots), but I’d rather face Star (with a twice-to-beat privilege) than play Ginebra in a best-of-three (series).”
San Miguel, though, could still end up playing the Gin Kings in a series, a much longer one at that since Ginebra and the Beermen are bracketed to meet in the Final Four, a best-of-five, granting they survive their respective quarterfinal match-ups.
Ginebra is at No. 4 and will clash with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in a best-of-three series starting Sunday afternoon.
The other quarterfinal will pit No. 3 Alaska against the seventh-ranked Texters, who finished with a 6-5 record. The Aces scored a similar 104-98 win over NLEX in the first game and wound up with a 7-4 slate to win third spot after the tiebreak with Ginebra and the Painters.
Meralco, because of the San Miguel victory and having lost to the Beermen in the eliminations, became No. 2 and will clash with the Road Warriors, also needing to beat NLEX just once to make the semifinals where the winner of the Alaska-TNT series will await.
“We were playing catch-up the entire game,” Austria went on. “And we just played better in the stretch. The players really wanted this game so bad.”
Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross drilled in 10 points each, with Cabagnot’s last triple, which came at the final 1:58 mark, giving the Beermen a 98-94 lead.
Tropang TNT held a 94-88 lead going into the last 3:51 before going on a scoring drought as its next score, a free throw by import David Simon, came with just 66 seconds remaining which made it 98-85.
Wilkerson then scored on a tough turnaround jumper off the glass despite enormous defensive pressure from Kelly Williams, wrapping up the game with a 100-95 lead with 50 ticks to go.
David Simon led the Texters with 32 points and 16 board and rookie Troy Rosario added 14.
Tropang TNT missed Jason Castro, especially in the stretch, when the Texters were struggling to make the big shots needed to put away the Beermen. Castro sat out the game reportedly because of a bum stomach.
Alaska got 23 points and eight rebounds from Calvin Abueva and 12 and 14 rebounds from the returning Rob Dozier, the former Best Import awardee who saw action in his first game of the season.
Al Thornton paced the Road Warriors with 37 points.
Trailing for most of Friday night, the Beermen waxed hot offensively in the final four minutes and went on to clip Tropang TNT, 104-98, to gain top seeding in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs and avoid tangling with a dreaded foe in the quarterfinals.
Reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and import Tyler Wilkerson were the biggest reasons why the Beermen finished with a flurry, shooting 26 points in the fourth period – a chunk of them during the most crucial stretch – to complete the come-from-behind win for the Beermen at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Fajardo had 14 of his 18 points and Wilkerson 12 of his 36 – their combined fourth quarter total matching TNT’s entire output in that span – as they led the Beermen in finishing with an 8-3 record and winning out in the tiebreaker with idle Meralco for No. 1.
Bagging top seeding gave the Beermen the right to play the eighth-seeded Star Hotshots in the quarterfinals on Monday, and they would need to win just once to march on to the Final Four.
A loss would have put them in No. 5 position, in a collision course with another sister team, Barangay Ginebra, in a best-of-three quarterfinal series.
“The players knew how important this game was. They also do not want to face Ginebra this early (in the quarterfinals),” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “No disrespect (to the Hotshots), but I’d rather face Star (with a twice-to-beat privilege) than play Ginebra in a best-of-three (series).”
San Miguel, though, could still end up playing the Gin Kings in a series, a much longer one at that since Ginebra and the Beermen are bracketed to meet in the Final Four, a best-of-five, granting they survive their respective quarterfinal match-ups.
Ginebra is at No. 4 and will clash with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in a best-of-three series starting Sunday afternoon.
The other quarterfinal will pit No. 3 Alaska against the seventh-ranked Texters, who finished with a 6-5 record. The Aces scored a similar 104-98 win over NLEX in the first game and wound up with a 7-4 slate to win third spot after the tiebreak with Ginebra and the Painters.
Meralco, because of the San Miguel victory and having lost to the Beermen in the eliminations, became No. 2 and will clash with the Road Warriors, also needing to beat NLEX just once to make the semifinals where the winner of the Alaska-TNT series will await.
“We were playing catch-up the entire game,” Austria went on. “And we just played better in the stretch. The players really wanted this game so bad.”
Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross drilled in 10 points each, with Cabagnot’s last triple, which came at the final 1:58 mark, giving the Beermen a 98-94 lead.
Tropang TNT held a 94-88 lead going into the last 3:51 before going on a scoring drought as its next score, a free throw by import David Simon, came with just 66 seconds remaining which made it 98-85.
Wilkerson then scored on a tough turnaround jumper off the glass despite enormous defensive pressure from Kelly Williams, wrapping up the game with a 100-95 lead with 50 ticks to go.
David Simon led the Texters with 32 points and 16 board and rookie Troy Rosario added 14.
Tropang TNT missed Jason Castro, especially in the stretch, when the Texters were struggling to make the big shots needed to put away the Beermen. Castro sat out the game reportedly because of a bum stomach.
Alaska got 23 points and eight rebounds from Calvin Abueva and 12 and 14 rebounds from the returning Rob Dozier, the former Best Import awardee who saw action in his first game of the season.
Al Thornton paced the Road Warriors with 37 points.