Jay R. Gotera
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen bucked the loss of two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, who suffered a knee injury in the third quarter, to finish off the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 90-82, in Game 6 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
SMB thus wrapped up the series, 4-2, to advance to the best-of-7 finals against the Alaska Aces starting Sunday.
Fajardo was wheeled out of the Smart-Araneta Coliseum with 7:11 left in the third quarter after he collapsed on the floor clutching his left knee following a hard bump given him by Rain or Shine’s Jireh Ibanes.
Instead of getting demoralized, the loss of their big man and consistent top scorer fired up the Beermen who went on a 10-3 run built on three-pointers each from Arwind Santos and Ronald Tubid and a couple of baskets from Gabby Espinas.
Marcio Lassiter then joined the SMB rampage, hitting huge shots to give his team a seven-point advantage, 70-63, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Beermen stepped on the gas in the fourth, increasing their lead to 15 points, 82-67.
The Painters countered with a 12-2 run to cut SMB’s lead to five points.
But that proved to be their last hurrah as Espinas, Lassiter and Chris Ross nailed all their free throws.
Lassiter finished with a team-high 22 points. But it was Santos who was named Player of the Game for stepping up his game with the loss of Fajardo. Santos posted 15 points and a whopping 19 rebounds.
Before his injury, Fajardo had already racked up 14 points and 12 boards.
Beau Belga led Rain or Shine with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jewel Ponferada and Gabe Norwood scored 14 apiece while Jeff Chan and Ibanes added 11 and 10, respectively.
Game Sunday: Alaska Aces vs. San Miguel Beermen (Game 1 of best-of-7 finals).
