Mo Tautuaa
San Miguel Beer is closing in on completing a successful redemption tour and dealing TNT another world of hurt, 14 seasons after the Beermen, then known as another team, inflicted the first.
Jericho Cruz’s timely shooting from beyond the arc prevented the Beermen from not just putting Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals to waste, but also sweetened the coronation of June Mar Fajardo as the Best Player of the Conference as they gained a commanding 3-1 lead on Sunday with a 105-91 win.
Cruz drained three triples in the final canto on his way to 23 points as San Miguel refused to falter after squandering a double-digit lead at Mall of Asia Arena, where the Beermen not only inched closer to a 30th PBA title but also handed TNT’s Grand Slam dreams a massive blow.
“I am just so thankful for the trust the coach (Leo Austria) is giving me,” Cruz said in Filipino. “It looks like I still have it.”
Known as Petron back in 2011, the league’s winningest franchise first denied TNT a Triple Crown sweep with a team built around Arwind Santos and coached by Ato Agustin, who is now one of Austria’s assistants.
And with three chances to win one more game starting with Game 5 on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, the odds of San Miguel repeating that feat are definitely high.
CJ Perez also delivered in the fourth after struggling for most of the series, while Juami Tiongson and Marcio Lassiter showed spurts in the first three quarters as the Beermen now have this series by the throat after losing Game 1 in a controversial way two Sundays ago.
They won on the same day that Fajardo all but assured himself of extending his record-number of PBA MVP awards after claiming the second of three Best Player of the Conference trophies handed out in the league’s 49th season.
Fajardo was the overwhelming winner of the BPC plum for the Philippine Cup after beating out Perez and NLEX’s Robert Bolick, leaving without any doubt that the 6-foot-10 cornerstone will add a ninth MVP trophy to his haul of individual accomplishments.
He had won the BPC in the Governors’ Cup, but not without some challenge from good friend Japeth Aguilar. But a combination of his strong play, San Miguel’s return to its familiar territory and playoff disappointments of his closest pursuers all contributed to Fajardo taking home the award.
After the voting, Fajardo garnered 1,085 points based on statistics (45%) and votes from media (30%) and players (25%).
Perez was second with 704, followed by Bolick with 592.
Entering the playoffs, Bolick and Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero posed as strong challengers to Fajardo’s bid, so was Perez, who was second in statistical points after the elimination round.
But Bolick and Lucero were virtually eliminated from the race as their teams, NLEX and Magnolia, couldn’t follow up their strong showings in classification by squandering their respective twice-to-beat bonuses against Rain or Shine and eventual finalist TNT.
Perez, on the other hand, cooled off in the semis, as evidenced in San Miguel coaching staff’s decision to keep him on the bench during the critical Game 7 against Ginebra, with Austria opting to go with the likes of Cruz, Don Trollano and Chris Ross.
Jordan Heading scored 23 points, heating up in the third when the Tropang 5G, who led, 14-2, at the start before trailing, 62-50, in the third, rallied to go into the fourth ahead, 67-64.
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But TNT, which saw the return of Poy Erram from a sprained right ankle, couldn’t sustain its form as San Miguel countered with Cruz leading the charge. INQ