Santos' last second putback lifts Beermen past Energy
MANILA, Philippines -- Arwind Santos was struggling all game long but he never gave up and delivered when it mattered most.
Santos scored on a putback with sixth tenths of a second left to lift the San Miguel Beermen to a pulsating 106-105 victory in the 2015 Smart Bro-Philippine Cup before a big Sunday crowd at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Santos still wound up with 15 points but only connected 6-of-17 from the field.
The Barako Bull Energy were almost cinched to score a huge upset when RR Garcia hit a three-pointer, their 17th in the game, in the final 10 seconds to put them back on top, 104-105. But the Beermen refused to give up the top spot with Santos picking up a loose ball and made the follow-up off a Marcio Lassiter's miss to pull off the victory.
The close win pushed the Beermen all alone on top with 5-1 card.
June Mar Fajardo set up Santos' heroics with a monster double-double of 28 points and 20 boards that kept the Beermen afloat. He scored most of his points around the perimeter including a fadeaway jumper off the post that gave the Beermen a 102-98 breather.
The Energy leaned on their hot three-point shooting as they exploded for a season-high 17-of-35 keeping the Beermen at bay until the final minutes.
Josh Urbiztondo and Mick Pennisi had 19 and 18 points, respectively as they hit five triples each for the Energy, who fell to 3-3.
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