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[av_heading heading=’Beermen ousts Star to enter PBA Comm finals’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Saturday, June 17, 2017
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MANILA – San Miguel Beermen survived an endgame run by Star Hotshots to score a 109-102 victory in Game 4 of the best-of-five semifinals last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Alex Cabagnot led the way with 26 points, including four three-point conversions, for the Beermen which moved on to its second consecutive PBA finals appearance after winning the series, 3-1.
Chris Ross had double-double 24 points and 10 assists while June Mar Fajardo and reinforcement Charles Rhodes contributed 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Holding to a slim 52-49 lead at the half, the Beermen started to pull away in the third frame on three-point conversions by Rhodes, Cabagnot and Ross for an 83-69 advantage on a basket by Fajardo.
Beermen later build its largest lead of 17 points on a three-point play by Fajardo but Hotshots launched its own rally behind Mark Barroca and Ricardo Ratliffe to come to within 93-86.
Beermen was able to pull away to 100-90 once again on conversions by Rhodes but Hotshots had its last run to come to within 101-98 on a triple by Paul Lee before Marcio Lassiter, Fajardo and Cabagnot sealed Beermen’s win with free throws.
“It’s really hard if you’re in the situation of the Star. They were doing everything to tie the series but I told my players that in this kind of situation, momentum is on our side, hindi na namin dapat pababayaan ito,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria.
Ratliffe finished with double-double 36 points and 17 rebounds, while Allein Maliksi and Barroca added 16 and 13 points, respectively, for Hotshots, which once again failed to rely on star guard Paul Lee, who was held to eight points.
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 109 – Cabagnot 26, Ross 24, Fajardo 22, Rhodes 21, Lassiter 8, Santos 4, Heruela 3, Espinas 1, Tubid 0.
STAR 102 – Ratliffe 36, Maliksi 16, Barroca 13, Sangalang 11, Ramos 9, Lee 8, Jalalon 6, Simon 3, Melton 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 29-27, 52-49, 83-69, 109-102./PN
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