The San Miguel Beermen have reclaimed their most cherished trophy — the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Beermen completed their quest to reach the All-Filipino mountaintop in the 49th Season after a 107-96 Game 6 win over the TNT Tropang 5G in the finals on Friday, July 25, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The historic franchise’s 30th PBA title also came at a hefty price, halting the Tropang 5G’s dreams of a coveted Grand Slam, which remained to be elusive for the TNT side.
Fourteen years ago, the San Miguel franchise — known as Petron Blaze Boosters by then — also played the role of spoiler to TNT’s mission of completing a Grand Slam during the PBA’s 2010-2011 Season.
After losing a drama-filled Game 1 to open the series, the squad paced by Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo unleashed a three-game winning run — a dominant counterattack by Leo Austria’s soldiers, who had just moved on from the match that they described as “lost its beauty.”
They suffered a roadblock, being the Game 5 loss on July 23, but their destination remained the same, which is the Philippine Cup title.
They leaned on a massive third quarter this time, having scored 34 points compared to the Tropang 5G’s 20 to establish an 86-67 lead entering the fourth frame.
Fajardo and Jericho Cruz powered that huge third chapter, tallying 10 and nine points in that frame alone, respectively, with the eight-time PBA MVP going perfect on the field, 5-of-5.
TNT tried a last push in the fourth period, closing within 13 points, 90-77, after a Jordan Heading triple, but the separation was already too much for the Tropang 5G to tear down as the Beermen found the conversions to keep the Tropang 5G at bay.
The Beermen’s three-point master, Marcio Lassiter, converted a trey, Cruz found a breakaway layup, as Fajardo followed at the 4:39 mark to expand their lead to 20, 101-81.
Fajardo was hailed Best Player of the Game after stuffing the stat sheet with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. CJ Perez also nailed 24 points built on 7-of-8 shooting inside the arc, to go with six assists and one steal, while Cruz added 13 markers, six assists and four rebounds.
Don Trollano and Mo Tautuaa completed the SMB twin-digit supporting cast by listing 12 and 10 markers, respectively.
Cruz eventually won his first-ever Finals MVP after posting averages of 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the championship series.
On the other side, Calvin Oftana headlined six TNT players in double digits, firing 19 points built on three makes from beyond the arc.
Veteran Kelly Williams, proving that age is just a number in this series, wrapped up with a 17-point showing in Game 6. (ABS-CBN News)