MANILA – San Miguel Beermen relied on an endgame breakaway to stave off Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 117-107, in Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals last night at the Dasmarinas Arena in Dasmarinas, Cavite.
Holding to a slim 99-97 lead with over six minutes left, the Beermen created separation from the Painters behind consecutive baskets from Celedonio Trollano and Jaymar Perez for a 105-99 edge.
The Painters continued its run to cut the deficit to 105-109, but the Beermen answered with a three-pointer from Marcio Lassiter and back-to-back hits from Terrence Romeo for a 117-107 lead.
Perez tallied a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Lassiter converted five outside shots to end up with 21 markers as the Beermen took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven semis series.
Trollano also ended with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, Romeo, Chris Ross and Moala Tautuaa tallied 13, 12, and 10, respectively, while June Mar Fajardo had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds for SMB.
Beermen head coach Jorge Gallent credited his squad’s composure and experience in the final minutes of the game to prevent the uprising of the Painters and build and insurmountable series lead.
“The boys were really composed, especially in the last five minutes of the game when the Rain or Shine were making a run,” Gallent said. “It is composure, we knew where to go pagdating sa endgame.”
“Fortunately, Terrence shot well and Don’s shots went in so that’s a good sign for us, June Mar also did a great job for us, scoring, defending their bigs because they shot a lot of threes,” he added.
Beau Belga top-scored for the Painters with 19 points, including six three-pointers, Adrian Nocum, Keith Datu, and Jhonard Clarito added 14 points apiece, while Andrei Caracut and Leonard Santillan ended with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The defending champions Beermen can formalize their return to the championship round in Game 4 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City./PN
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 117 – Perez 23, Lassiter 21, Trollano 20, Romeo 13, Ross 12, Fajardo 11, Tautuaa 10, Brondial 4, Cruz 3, Enciso 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 107 – Belga 19, Datu 14, Clarito 14, Nocum 14, Caracut 13, Santillan 12, Mamuyac 6, Asistio 6, Norwood 4, Demusis 3, Ildefonso 2.
Quarterscores: 25-24, 51-47, 91-85, 117-107.
