By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The two-time defending champions San Miguel Beermen roared to a blazing start before warding off a late run by the Barangay Ginebra Kings to come away with a 94-85 victory in Game 4 of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Friday night.
SMB thus erected a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, a game away from snaring a PBA Philippine Cup three-peat. Game 5 is set Sunday.
The Beermen caught the Kings flatfooted with an 11-0 run, knocking down 11 three-pointers in the first two quarters, silencing some 17,000 mostly pro-Ginebra fans at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Leading by 21 points, 55-34, at halftime, SMB even padded its lead to as many as 26 points, 60-34, early in the third quarter.
The Kings launched a furious rally in the final quarter, cutting down SMB’s lead to seven, 92-85, with 1:17 left.
But the run was still too little too late as SMB’s June Mar Fajardo finished off the Kings with a layup off a steal.
Fajardo was earlier awarded his fifth Best Player of the Conference award before the game.
The two-time MVP nicknamed “The Kraken” once again led the Beermen with a double-double 20 points and 13 rebounds, on top of three assists and two blocks.
Swingman Marcio Lassiter also tallied 20 points on a 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range. He also tallied four assists and three rebounds.
Chris Ross added 17 points, nine assists, and four rebounds. The SMB point guard was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Overall, SMB was a sizzling 15-of-34 from the three-point arc while Ginebra could only hit five of 22 three-point shots.
Joe Devance once again shrugged off his foot injury to lead Kings with 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds in the loss.
Game Sunday: San Miguel Beermen vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (Game 5 of best-of-7 Finals; SMB leads 3-1).
