MANILA – Celedonio Trollano stepped up offensively in the fourth quarter as San Miguel Beermen scored a victory over TNT Tropang 5G in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the Beermen clinging to an 85-80 lead with over seven minutes left, Trollano converted consecutive layups to increase the lead to 89-80 before he sent Tropang 5G’s Kelly Williams to the line for two free throws.
Trollano continued his scoring with a three-pointer and a layup followed by free throws from June Mar Fajardo and a fastbreak layup from Moala Tautuaa for a 98-88 advantage.
Trollano top-scored with 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to go with six rebounds and one assist to be named Player of the Game as the Beermen tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
Fajardo battled foul trouble in the first half to finish with 17 points and nine rebounds, Tautuaa chipped in 16 markers, while Jeron Teng sparked the Beermen in the second quarter to tally 10 markers.
Chris Ross also made his presence felt with seven points, seven assists, four rebounds, and four steals for the Beermen, which managed to secure the win despite a combine 10 markers from Jaymar Perez and Marcio Lassiter.
“We’re so lucky because we did not commit a lot of turnovers, we just had 10 turnovers. You can see also it is a balanced scoring from our bench to our starters, and that’s the key (in our Game 2 win),” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria.
Calvin Oftana top-scored for the Tropang 5G with 23 points, Jordan Heading added 15 markers, while Williams and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Veteran center John Paul Erram, however, exited early in the second half after sustaining a sprained right ankle, joining TNT players on injured list in Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac./PN
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 98 – Trollano 22, Fajardo 17, Tautuaa 16, Teng 10, Perez 8, Ross 7, Cruz 6, Brondial 6, Tiongson 4, Lassiter 2.
TNT 92 – Oftana 23, Heading 15, Williams 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 10, Enciso 7, Erram 6, Pogoy 6, Khobuntin 6, Aurin 4, Heruela 4, Galinato 0, Varilla 0, Nieto 0.
Quarterscores: 23-19, 51-39, 75-74, 98-92.
