MANILA, Philippines – Titleholder San Miguel Beer shrugged off rust from a long layoff and found its old champion’s heart to claim a dramatic 109-105 victory over Rain or Shine in Game One of their Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.
The Beermen groped for form in the first 36 minutes, then worked on a stirring fourth quarter run to erase a 20-point deficit in a frenetic finish to hack out the win.
Reigning back-to-back MVP Junmar Fajardo took the cudgels for SMB and finished with 36 points, but Arwind Santos, Ronald Tubid and Chris Ross played equally vital roles as they took charge in the payoff period to help rally the Beermen past the stunned E-Painters.
The quartet starred as the Beermen walloped the Elasto Painters, 38-14, in the final canto, wiping out a 20-point deficit at 71-91.
Meanwhile, Terrence Romeo, after a career-best 41-point performance in GlobalPort’s 107-93 triumph over top seed Alaska Monday, looms as the biggest offensive threat against the Aces as the Batang Pier try to make it two-in-row in their Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Will the Aces find a way to stop or neutralize Romeo?
That’s the question with the GlobalPort hotshot having torched Alaska with a whopping average of 37 points in their first two games in the tourney.
The Batang Pier, for sure, will continue to look for Romeo. Interesting to find out is how will the Aces respond in Game Two set at 7 p.m. at the Big Dome.
Trailing from the early goings of the game, the Beermen surged ahead at 105-103 on a 16-3 salvo capped by a spin-move basket by Fajardo with 2:17 left to play.
Then after ROS tied the count at 105, Ross struck from the three-point zone then the Beermen applied a lockdown defense to the very end to score a virtual repeat of their 101-95 victory over the E-Painters in the opener of their 2015 Governors Cup semis showdown.
“It’s unbelievable. I have to give credit to Ronald Tubid, Chris Ross and Junmar. Ross provided us much energy during our comeback. Then a huge turning point was his three-point shot,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Ross highlighted his game with that trey plus seven steals that helped fuel their mighty fightback.
Santos and Tubid also banged away clutch three-pointers in the final period after the team bled for their baskets through the first three quarters, allowing Rain or Shine to lead by as many as 22 at 68-46.
Riding the momentum of a two-game roll in the quarterfinals, the E-Painters dominated the game until they struggled in the face of San Miguel’s pressing defense in the last quarter.