San Miguel Beer holds on to double-digit lead to level Finals

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) — It took 3 games, but the San Miguel Beermen finally learned their lesson.

San Miguel shoved the Alaska Aces down a double-digit hole in the first quarter and made sure they stayed there as they took Game 4, 88-70, to level the best-of-7 Finals series at 2-2 in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday, January 14 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen, who were victims of huge comebacks from the Aces in Games 1 and 3 of the series, took a 17-point 33-16 lead at the end of the first and later notched their biggest edge at 29 points, 55-26, early in the third to keep Alaska down for good the rest of the way.

“The main reason for this win, I think, is we were able to sustain our energy and we kept our focus,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria. “And defense from start to finish.”

The offensive-minded Alex Cabagnot, who finished 5th in the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) race, started for the first time in the series and sizzled for San Miguel with 22 points on 4-of-10 three-pointers.

“We actually played for 48 minutes, the way we wanted to,” said Cabagnot, who averaged just 6.7 points in the first 3 games of the series.

“I was playing subpar for the first 3 games but those shots just went in. I just had to stay dilligent with the preparation I’ve done so far and it was God’s will for it to go in.”

Ronald Tubid tallied 13 markers, 9 of which he poured in the third, while Chris Lutz, Arwind Santos, and June Mar Fajardo added 11 points apiece.

After playing 40 minutes for each of the first 3 games, Fajardo, the newly-minted BPC, saw limited action in Game 4 and played for just 27 minutes and 40 seconds. He added 11 rebounds across his name.

BPC runner-up Abueva was the only Alaska player in double figures with 22 points on top of 7 rebounds.

Vic Manuel and Chris Exciminiano contributed 9 and 8 points, respectively.

Guard JVee Casio was scoreless for the first time in his 4-year PBA career, per PBA Head Statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

Alaska, who led only once in the game at 2-1, tried to chop down the lead late in the third and came to within 21, 62-41, and to within 22 points with under a minute left in that period, 71-49, following a 6-0 spurt.

But San Miguel held their own defensively, kept to the pace they were comfortable with, and gave little room for a legitimate Alaska comeback.

“We really respect them a lot, especially with what happened to us,” Austria said. “We experienced a lot of criticism and now we showed people that we can also play defense.”

A pair of free throws from Calvin Abueva made it just a 73-56 affair early in the payoff period, but an ensuing Dondon Hontiveros triple attempt that could have sliced the deficit to just 14 rimmed out and ultimately diffused Alaska’s building momentum.

“We got beat,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton, whose team was clobbered on the glass, 53-35, and subsequently in second-chance points, 19-4.

“Siguro kita naman natin kung bakit number one sila sa standings. They just came out and they beat us. For me, more than our guys playing terrible is that San Miguel played well and they deserved to win.” (Now we see exactly why they’re number one in the standings.)

The close series now turns into a best-of-3 affair with Game 5 to be played on Friday, January 16, 7PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The game may be shown on a slightly delayed basis on TV5 due to coverage of the Papal visit.

Scores:

SAN MIGUEL (88): Cabagnot 22, Tubid 13, Lutz 11, Fajardo 11, Santos 11, Lassiter 10, Kramer 6, Ross 2, Semerad 2, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Maierhofer 0, Fortuna 0, Chua 0.

ALASKA (70): Abueva 22, Manuel 9, Exciminiano 8, Baguio 6, Hontiveros 6, Jazul 5, Banchero 4, Thoss 4, Dela Rosa 4, Menk 2, Eman 0, Espinas 0, Dela Cruz 0, Casio 0.

Quarter scores: 33-16, 49-26, 73-49, 88-70.

– Rappler.com

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PBA 2015 Philippine Cup Finals:

Game 1: Alaska mounts massive comeback for game 1 OT win
Game 2: San Miguel wins physical battle over Alaska to tie finals at 1-1
Game 3: Alaska mounts comeback anew, stuns San Miguel for 2-1 lead
Game 4: San Miguel Beer holds on to double-digit lead to level Finals