San Miguel books ticket to PH Cup finals, dispatches Ginebra in Game 5

Delfin Dioquino

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

San Miguel books ticket to PH Cup finals, dispatches Ginebra in Game 5
The San Miguel Beermen are now 4 wins away from claiming their 4th consecutive All-Filipino title

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The San Miguel Beermen will advance to the finals of the Philippine Cup for the 4th straight year after trouncing Barangay Ginebra, 100-94, in Game 5 of their best-of-7 semifinals series at the Cuneta Astrodome on Saturday, March 17.

Riding on the momentum of its 21-point Game 4 rout of Ginebra last Thursday, March 15, San Miguel is now 4 wins away from claiming its 4th straight All-Filipino title.

The game was tied at 94-all before Alex Cabagnot’s layup with 3:20 minutes to play broke the deadlock for a 96-94 San Miguel lead.

Ginebra had plenty of chances to equalize but San Miguel’s Arwind Santos blocked Jervy Cruz and then tipped a pass, paving the way for another Cabagnot bucket, 98-94. 

The Gin Kings missed all of their last 4 shot attempts and Marcio Lassiter iced the insurance free throws for the Beermen. 

Alam namin na ang Ginebra will come out hard because their backs were against the wall. Our players refused to lose dahil alam nila ang importance ng game na ito,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria. 

(We knew Ginebra will come out hard because their backs were against the wall. Our players refused to lose because they knew the importance of this game.)

Ginebra came off a blistering start, mounting a 39-27 lead thanks to 7 triples in the first quarter before the Beermen got their groove and knotted the score at 55-all at halftime.

June Mar Fajardo spearheaded San Miguel’s assault with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists against 8 turnovers while Lassiter buried 5 triples en route to 23 points and 8 rebounds. 

Santos fought foul trouble and finished with a double-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks to help steer San Miguel to its 39th finals appearance.

Matt Ganuelas-Rosser chipped in 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists and Cabagnot added 12 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and two steals in the win. 

Scottie Thompson impressed with a triple-double of 10 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists but that was not enough for Ginebra to live another day. 

Japeth Aguilar paced the Gin Kings with 32 points and 4 rebounds. 

The win was sort of a revenge game for the Beermen after the Gin Kings eliminated them in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Governors’ Cup.

San Miguel was gunning for a grand slam last season, having won the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cup championships, but they crashed out in the Governors’ Cup at the hands of Ginebra.

The Beermen will have plenty of rest before facing the winner of the semifinals series between the NLEX Road Warriors and the Magnolia Hotshots in a best-of-7 championship bout.

Four-peat, we will see kung kaya namin ito. But there is a very good chance for this because the advantage is with us because we have a chance to rest,” added Austria.

(Four-peat, we will see if we can accomplish that. But there is a very good chance that we will be able to do that becayse the advantage is with us because we have a chance to rest.)

NLEX and Magnolia are tied at 2-2 and will clash in Game 5 on Sunday, March 18, and Game 6 on Tuesday, March 20.

The Scores:

San Miguel (100): Fajardo 25, Lassiter 23, Ganuelas-Rosser 14, Cabagnot 12, Santos 11, Espinas 5, Ross 5, De Ocampo 4, Pessumal 1

Ginebra (94): J. Aguilar 32, Mercado 14, Thompson 10, Devance 9, Ferrer 8, Tenorio 8, R. Aguilar 7, Cruz 4, Caguioa 2, Caperal 0

Quarter scores: 25-34, 55-55, 83-76, 100-94 

Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Person, Human, Clothing

author

Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.