MANILA – San Miguel Beermen ended TNT Tropang 5G’s pursuit for a Grand Slam with a 107-96 victory in Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals last night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
June Mar Fajardo top-scored with 24 points, on a near-perfect 11-of-12 field goal shooting, to go with 12 rebounds and three assists as the Beermen wrapped up the championship series at 4-2.
Jaymar Perez added 24 markers, six assists, three rebounds, and a steal. Ilonggo Jericho Cruz tallied 13 markers, while Celedonio Trollano and Moala Tautuaa had 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Beermen.
Down 23-25 after the opening quarter, the Beermen got their offense going in the second period behind consecutive hits from Trollano and Perez to establish a 52-47 halftime lead.
The Beermen broke away in the third quarter with nine early points from Cruz, inside conversions from Fajardo, and attacks from Trollano as the lead reached 84-64 heading into the final period.
The Tropang 5G made their last push in the final quarter to cut the deficit to 13 points, but timely conversions from Marcio Lassiter and Perez sealed the Beermen’s 30th PBA title.
“I want to congratulate Talk N Text for bringing out the best in us in this series. Both teams deserve to win the championship, but there is only one, which is San Miguel Beer,” said Beermen head coach
Calvin Oftana led the Tropang 5G with 19 points, Kelly Williams and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 17 and 15 points, respectively, Jordan Heading and Almond Vosotros ended with 13 apiece, and Roger Pogoy finished with 12 points./PN
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 107 – Fajardo 24, Perez 24, Cruz 13, Trollano 12, Tautuaa 10, Ross 9, Lassiter 7, Tiongson 4, Brondial 4, Teng 0, Cahilig 0, Calma 0.
TNT 96 – Oftana 19, Williams 17, Ganuelas-Rosser 15, Heading 13, Vosotros 13, Pogoy 12, Khobuntin 5, Aurin 2, Heruela 0, Galinato 0, Nieto 0.
Quarterscores: 23-25, 52-47, 86-67, 107-96.
