MANILA – San Miguel Beermen tightened its grip on the PBA Philippine Cup throne.
June Mar Fajardo came up huge in the second overtime as Beermen completed its conquest with a 108-99 victory over Magnolia Hotshots to bag the title for the fourth straight year.
Fajardo immediately imposed his presence at the onset of the second extension with back-to-back inside hits for a 101-94 lead.
Hotshots rallied to within 99-103 but conversions from Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot sealed the win for Beermen in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Finals last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Fajardo finished with career-high 42 points along with 20 rebounds while Arwind Santos had double-double 23 points and 11 rebounds for Beermen.
Marcio Lassiter contributed 16 markers while Chris Ross fell short of quadruple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, and eight steals for Beermen, which bagged its 24th PBA championship overall.
Fajardo was also recognized as the Finals Most Valuable Player.
But the title-clincher was not easy for San Miguel, which had to claw back from a 23-point deficit in the second half on collective efforts by Fajardo, Santos, Lassiter, and Ross.
Hotshots had a strong start behind Paul Lee and Andy Mark Barroca to lead by as much as 71-48 in the third period. Beermen slowly chopped the deficit 60-74 heading into the fourth with hits from Fajardo and Ross.
Magnolia was still up by double figures early in the fourth when Beermen banked on the towering presence of Fajardo to force an overtime following a game-tying triple by Santos.
Both teams struggled in the first extension, accounting for only 4 points each. Beermen pulled away in the second overtime with a strong start from Fajardo and bagged its fourth consecutive All-Filipino title.
“They showed the heart of a champion,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “Down by 20 points and we came back to force overtime. Credits din to Magnolia. Talagang pinahirapan nila kami.”
Lee finished with 21 points, including 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point line, for Hotshots. Rome dela Rosa added 19 markers while Rafael Reavis had double-double 13 points and 12 rebounds./PN
