Kings, Beermen battle for last semis spot
MANILA, Philippines — A “beeracle”-type reverse sweep or a closeout that’s just delayed?
San Miguel Beer – out for an amazing comeback from 0-2 down – and Barangay Ginebra – bent on claiming the clincher on third try – duke it out in a Game 5 sudden death tonight in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
The moment of reckoning is set at 7:30 p.m. at Ynares Center-Antipolo.
Reward for the victor is a date with defending champion TNT in the best-of-five semifinals.
It’s been a fierce series between the two proud and glory-hungry franchises from the San Miguel Corp. group.
Reigning Commissioner’s Cup kingpin Ginebra opened with emphatic 104-95 and 126-99 victories to get on the hill early. But current Philippine Cup titlist SMB struck back twice, 101-99 and 108-102, to forge the rubber match.
PBA aficionados are quick to point to the possibility of a repeat of San Miguel’s celebrated “beeracle” feat in the 2015-16 Philippine Cup finals against Alaska. In that best-of-seven series, the Beermen went down 0-3 but famously fought their way back to complete the monumental steal.
Coach Leo Austria and his troops led by June Mar Fajardo and Chris Ross, two holdovers from that legendary comeback win, shrugged off the “beeracle” label.
“We will not exaggerate the situation. We just have to play our game and we just want to focus on what we have to do (in Game 5),” said Austria.
“We haven’t done anything yet. We just evened the series. They won two straight, we won two straight. It’s a decider and it’s usually how it goes when we play Ginebra. We go six or seven (games in a best-of-seven) so we’re excited to play that next game,” said Ross.
Ginebra’s situation is still salvageable. And that’s what matters to coach Tim Cone at this point.
“Bottom line is, it’s tied up, 2-2. We move forward, all right, get ready for the next one,” said Cone after the Game 4 heartbreaker.