Tag: series

San Miguel gets back at Meralco to tie series at 2-2

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San Miguel Beermen center June Mar Fajardo steers his team in Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

SCHEDULE: PBA Finals San Miguel vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines–San Miguel Beer put the PBA Philippine Cup Finals back on level terms with a collective effort that defeated Meralco, 111-101, Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

June Mar Fajardo had 28 points and 13 rebounds on the night he was hailed the Best Player of the Conference, but there were many players who stepped up in putting the series at two games apiece.

“Credit to Meralco, not only for the way it’s defending me, but the whole team,” Fajardo said.

CJ Perez produced 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Marcio Lassiter knocked down 18 points on four threes, but among the vital reasons for San Miguel’s triumph was the decision to insert Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel.

San Miguel Beermen guard Terrence Romeo suits up in PBA Finals Game 4.

San Miguel Beermen guard Terrence Romeo suits up in PBA Finals Game 4. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Manuel scored eight points in seven minutes while Romeo had seven points. Both players saw action for the first time in the PBA Finals.

Game 5 is set Friday at the same venue, with the winner gaining a 3-2 lead and closer to ending Season 48 with a championship.

The Beermen won despite allowing Bolts leader Chris Newsome to score a career-high 40 points.

Chris Banchero, Cliff Hodge and Brandon Bates also stepped up, but the lack of supporting cast hounded Meralco, which spent the Independence Day clash trying to catch up after trailing 23-9 at the start.

Allein Maliksi, Bong Quinto and Raymond Almazan struggled from the field.

Meralco’s closest gap was two during the third, but San Miguel had every answer to the Bolts’ resistance.

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 111—Fajardo 28, Perez 22, Lassiter 18, Tautuaa 9, Trollano 8, Manuel 8, Romeo 7, Ross 6, Cruz 5, Brondial 0, Teng 0.

MERALCO 101—Newsome 40, Banchero 21, Hodge 17, Maliksi 9, Quinto 6, Bates 4, Almazan 2, Rios 2, Caram 0, Torres 0.

Quarters: 29-22, 51-40, 82-74, 111-101.

June Mar Fajardo savors tied series; Best Player a ‘bonus’

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June Mar Fajardo takes home the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference Award for San Miguel Beermen ahead of Finals Game 4–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Taking home the Best Player of the Conference Award was a sweet accolade to get but tying the PBA Philippine Cup Finals series at 2-2 is even sweeter, at least according to June Mar Fajardo.

After winning the BPC award for a historic 10th time on Wednesday, Fajardo capped off his night by helping San Miguel Beer defeat Meralco, 111-101, in the highest-scoring game of the series thus far.

But while having new hardware in the closet is a clear motivator, Fajardo said he was more motivated by the fact that his Beermen was down in the series before Gamre 4.

READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo wins 10th Best Player of Conference award

“I was motivated because we were down by one game in this series. The BPC [award] is just a bonus,” said Fajardo in Filipino. “I’m happy to get the BPC but [I give] credits to my teammates because I wouldn’t get that if it wasn’t for them.”

Fajardo proved why he was the All-Filipino Conference’s top player with another sensational double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds on a blistering 64 percent field goal shooting clip.

The seven-time league MVP was also instrumental in stopping the Meralco bigs, helping the Beermen force Cliff Hodge and Brandon Bates to foul out of the game in the fourth quarter quelling any hopes of a comeback rally.

HIGHLIGHTS: PBA Finals Game 4 San Miguel vs Meralco

Of course, it wasn’t an easy job for Fajardo–or the Beermen as a whole, for that matter–making the series a virtual best-of-three.

“The defense on me was good and that also goes for our whole team. We had limited shots but now, like coach (Jorge Gallent) told us, we passed the ball well and that’s the reason why we won.”

The PBA Finals reach a fever pitch in Game 5 at the same venue on Friday at 7:30 pm.

Meralco escapes San Miguel for 2-1 series edge

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Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome shoots during Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against the San Miguel Beermen.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Meralco played splendid basketball on both ends on Sunday night for a gutsy 93-89 Game 3 victory over San Miguel and a 2-1 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven championship series.

The Bolts saw all of their starters finish in double-digit scores while clamping down on the Beermen’s top guns in yet another tightly-contested duel at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

“Looking at the stats, 15 lead changes, 16 times tied. You could just see how close these games are. I thought we were OK with our execution [tonight],” said coach Luigi Trillo, whose charges aptly rebounded after narrowly losing to the defending champions, 95-94, in the previous encounter last Friday night.

READ: PBA Finals: Meralco quickly moves on from Game 2 heartbreak

Chris Newsome delivered 26 points, including an open corner triple and two charities late in the game that proved to be the cushion that Meralco needed to prevail.

Raymond Almazan had 17 points–his finest this series–and had 13 rebounds. Bong Quinto chipped in 16 more into the scoring effort while Chris Banchero and Cliff Hodge pumped in 10 each.

Mo Tautuaa had 19 points to lead all of the Beermen, while CJ Perez was limited to just 18 points after top-scoring with 34 in the previous meeting.

READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel survives Meralco to tie series

Game 2 hero Marcio Lassiter and reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo added 12 points each, while Don Trollano and Jeron Teng also finished in twin-digit scores.

“We won, but we’re not satisfied with our last three, four minutes,” said Trillo, who pointed out how much tidying up Meralco has to do to sustain their run in this showdown for the prestigious Jun Bernardino trophy.

Meralco will try to annex a second-straight win and put its fancied foe in a bind in Game 4 set this Wednesday, again at the Big Dome.

The Scores:

MERALCO 93 – Newsome 26, Almazan 17, Quinto 16, banchero 10, Hodge 10, Maliksi 8, Torres 2, Pascual 2, Bates 2, Rios 0, Caram 0

SAN MIGUEL 89 – Tuatuaa 19, Perez 18, Lassiter 12, Fajardo 12, Trollano 11, Teng 10, Cruz 7, Ross 0, Brondial 0, Enciso 0

Quarterscores: 28-24, 48-46, 71-70, 93-89

Marcio dagger has changed complexion of series

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Marcio Lassiter is more focused on the Beermen’s title bid than he is on his chase of a cherished league record. —PBA IMAGES

Frosty for most of Friday night, San Miguel Beer marksman Marcio Lassiter came through in the final moments of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, bailing the much-fancied Beermen out from what would have been a 0-2 hole against hard-fighting Meralco.

Despite a 1-for-7 shooting going into that final play, Lassiter hit a step-back triple from the left wing with 13.2 seconds remaining to give the Beermen the lead. It turned out to be the basket the defending champions needed to ultimately level the best-of-seven championship series to a game apiece.

“We just knew if I get to my spot and just read the defense—that was all I really needed,” he told reporters on the heels of the 95-94 escape act fashioned out before a decent-sized crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

“Anytime I can get a good look and see the rim, I really feel like I [can hit it]. I’ve done it a few times before so I just tried to stay poised,” he added.

Lassiter is a holdover of San Miguel’s fabled starting unit dubbed the “Death Five.” Him, Chris Ross, along with reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo are all shooting for their 11th PBA crown.

Teammate Jericho Cruz believes that winning so much in the past has sharpened Lassiter for such clutch situations.

“They’ve been here long enough. They’ve been in the league for quite a while. I bet we can no longer count the number of game-winning shots he has made,” the sparkplug guard said of Lassiter, a 13-year veteran.

CJ Perez’s equally resilient performance set the stage up for the game-winner, as the spitfire guard was also having a rough shooting by going 11-for-27 before hitting a triple of his own that allowed the Beermen to pull within one, 93-92, with 22 seconds to go.

Perez wound up with a career playoff-high 34 points, while Lassiter had six.

“[Marcio], Chris, June Mar, right? For me, as long as they’re inside, we’re confident that we could win the game,” Cruz went on. “I just hope this goes on until we become champions again.”

San Miguel survives Meralco in thriller to tie series

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SCHEDULE: PBA Philippine Cup Finals San Miguel vs Meralco

San Miguel Beermen's CJ Perez during Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Meralco Bolts.

San Miguel Beermen’s CJ Perez during Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel played with steely nerves down the stretch to survive plucky Meralco, 95-94, leveling the championship series of the PBA Philippine Cup to a game apiece.

The Beermen rode the hot hand of CJ Perez all of Friday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, to keep the Bolts within striking range before turning to Marcio Lassiter in the crunch for a step-back triple with 13 ticks left to seal the club’s escape act.

“A very good shot by CJ to bring the lead down to one and then another good shot from Marcio to give us this victory today. So, kudos to the two of them,” said head coach Jorge Gallent.

HIGHLIGHTS: PBA Finals Game 2 San Miguel vs Meralco

“Sobrang crucial talaga ng Game 2, so binigay naming ang 110 percent naming. ‘Di siya perfect but I know makaka-adjust pa kami in the next games naming,” added Perez, who finished with a playoff career-high 34 points that went with five rebounds and five steals.

June Mar Fajardo chipped in 17 points while Don Trollano and Mo Tautuaa 12 and 10, respectively, as the powerhouse squad–installed as the favorite in this best-of-seven series–avoided sliding into a 0-2 deficit.

San Miguel’s high-wire escape laid waste to the heroics of Cliff Hodge and Chris Banchero. The former had a season-best 25 points spiked with nine rebounds, while the latter delivered 16 points, including a trey with 27 seconds remaining that seemingly took the fight out of the Beermen.

READ: PBA Finals: Meralco still ‘absolutely’ has not cracked San Miguel code

Perez, who later in the post-game chat said that he was not going to let his shooting percentage get in the way of his efforts, hit a three to pave the way for Lassiter’s eventual game-winner. He was 12-for-28 from the field in the equalizing Game 2.

Chris Newsome had 14 points for the Bolts, who led by eight points at one point in the duel.

The two clubs will break the series tie this Sunday at the same venue.

PBA Scores:

SAN MIGUEL 95 – Perez 34, Fajardo 17, Trollano 12, Tautuaa 10, Cruz 7, Lassiter 6, Ross 5, Brondial 2, Teng 2, Enciso 0

MERALCO 94 – Hodge 25, Banchero 16, Newsome 14, Quinto 9, Maliksi 8, Rios 6, Bates 6, Torres 5, Caram 3, Pascual 2, Almazan 0, Jose 0

Quarterscores: 21-22, 49-48, 69-73, 95-94.