San Miguel Beermen go 2-0 over Barangay Ginebra Kings

MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra got the crowd roaring for the large part of the game, but, in the end,  San Miguel Beer broke the heart of the Kings and their diehards  with a 104-102 squeaker in overtime in Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal playoff at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Arwind Santos banged away a huge three-pointer that sent the game into overtime then Marcio Lassiter took over, making timely baskets as the Beermen scored a follow-up to their 102-90 win in Game One and thus moved within two wins of a shot at a four-peat in the league’s premier tourney.

“Eto lang ang masasabi ko – eto eh tsamba (One thing I can say – it’s pure luck,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“From the start, I thought we would lose the game. But slowly, we recovered and had a good run in the fourth quarter. But still, if not for Arwind’s three-pointer, it would have been 1-1 now,” Austria added.

As Ginebra coach Tim Cone literally issued a distress call, the Kings, including free agent recruit Prince Caperal, responded with a solid game only to flounder in the end.

Going down the drain was Caperal’s breakout 26-point performance.

“Credit to their coaching staff, they made a good adjustment, including the game played by Caperal. But my players just wouldn’t lose the game and I salute them,” said Austria.

June Mar Fajardo endured another tough helping defense by the Kings and came through with a huge double-double game with 33 points and 19 rebounds.

But Santos and Lassiter proved to be their biggest saviors in the end.

With his two big treys late in regulation, Santos got away with his own double-double game with 11 markers and 10 boards while Lassiter came up with 25 points highlighted by his crucial six-point binge in the last 50 seconds of overtime play.

After Ginebra threw away its last possession on a five-second inbounding error by Joe Devance, Lassiter soared for a tip-in on a missed layup by Fajardo, and the Beermen moved ahead at 104-102 with only 3.2 seconds to go.

And with no more timeout left, the Kings were no longer able to plot a decent shot at forging a second OT.

Santos knocked in two big treys late in regulation while Devance muffed a close stab in the closing seconds as the game went into overtime at 95-all.

The 6-foot-4 SMB forward, after grabbing a loose ball, converted a step-back three-pointer to tie the count at 95 with 13.4 ticks to go.

Since falling behind at 25-30 at the end of the first quarter, the Beermen played catch-up basketball all throughout until Santos forged that equalizer towards the end of regulation.

NOTES: Presidential Special Assistant Bong Go, a basketball lover with a mean shooting, is joining the festivities in the Davao del Sur leg of the 2018 PBA All-Star series, with his participation in a special three-point shootout that may also feature cage legend Allan Caidic. The event is set on May 23 in Digos, Davao del Sur – also the host of the 2013 PBA All Stars. Go boasts of a personal best of 17 points in three-point shooting.

SAN Miguel 104 – Fajardo 33, Lassiter 25, Cabagnot 13, Ross 13, Santos 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Heruela 2, Pessumal 0, De Ocampo 0, Espinas 0.

Barangay Ginebra 102 – Aguilar 28, Caperal 26, Devance 11, Thompson 10, Cruz 10, Tenorio 8, Mercado 7, Mariano 2.

Quarterscores: 25-30, 42-55, 70-73, 95-95, 104-102 (OT).