JAY R. GOTERA
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The defending champion San Miguel Beermen stayed alive at least for one more game, tripping the Alaska Aces in overtime, 110-104, in Game 4 of the best-of-7 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Sunday night.
The Beermen thus avoided being swept by the Aces who still lead the series 3-1 ahead of Game 5 Wednesday.
In the most thrilling game of the series, SMB fought back from an 11-point deficit with four minutes left in regulation with a 14-0 blast to take a three-point lead, 98-95, with less than three seconds left.
However, Alaska’s Cyrus Baguio forced overtime with a clutch three-pointer at the buzzer.
Alaska began the five-minute extra period with back-to-back baskets by Vic Manuel, its most productive player in the Finals.
With the ignominy of getting swept once again creeping into their thoughts, the Beermen responded with another gallant effort, scoring 12 straight points to take an unbeatable 110-102 lead with a couple of seconds left to extend the series to at least a fifth game. Alaska’s Sonny Thoss converted two free throws after getting fouled with no time left to set the final score.
The Beermen nailed their first victory in the series still without their biggest weapon, reigning back-to-back MVP June Mar Fajardo who coach Leo Austria decided not to field despite being cleared to play by his doctors after being sidelined by a knee injury he suffered during Game Six of the semifinals against Rain or Shine.
Marcio Lassiter paced SMB with 26 points while former Alaska Ace Gabby Espinas played his best game for his new team contributing 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Chris Ross also contributed hugely to the SMB win, making two huge baskets in overtime and nearly finishing with a triple-double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Arwind Santos also added 11 markers for SMB.
The Aces made known their obvious intent to finish off the Beermen with a 13-1 run to start the game.
But the Beermen refused to surrender without a fight as they kept breathing down the Aces’ neck.
Their perseverance finally paid off at a point when they rattled off 14 straight points to take a 96-93 lead with 19 seconds remaining.
Alaska’s Calvin Abueva scored on a quick bucket, but Ross negated this with two free throws to make it 98-95 with just four seconds left on the clock.
The game appeared to be in the bag for SMB but Baguio scored on a clutch three-pointer to level the score as time expired. But SMB refused to be denied the victory as they pounced on Alaska late in the overtime period to finally nail its first win in the series.
For the fourth straight game, Manuel again paced Alaska with 20 points. Abueva and Dondon Hontiveros added 14 points apiece. Casio chimed in 13 while Chris Banchero and Baguio scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fajardo won the Best Player of the Conference award for the third straight season.
Fajardo was the runaway winner after he garnered the most statistical points by any player even though he never played a single game for San Miguel Beermen in the finals due to an injured knee.
The SMB behemoth amassed a total of 1,407 total points for the award which, apart from statistics, also includes votes from the media, players and the Commissioner’s Office.
Trailing him were Ginebra center Greg Slaughter (803 points), NLEX’s Asi Taulava (496), NLEX’s Sean Anthony (473), and Barako Bull’s Willie Wilson (449).
In 17 games, Fajardo averaged 26 points, 14.82 rebounds and 2.12 blocks.
Game Wednesday: Alaska Aces vs. San Miguel Beermen (Game 5 of best-of-7 Finals; Alaska leads series 3-1).
