PBA: San Miguel surges ahead, claims series lead

The San Miguel Beermen leaned on the steady production of Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo to edge ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven finals series after defeating the Alaska Aces, 93-88, on Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Best Player of the Conference Fajardo had 19 points with 13 rebounds and five blocks. Arwind Santos also had 19 markers with nine boards, four assists and five blocks as well. Marcio Lassiter chipped in 16 points, while Alex Cabagnot had sevenpoints and eight assists. Doug Kramer was a surprise producer off the bench with nine points including a perfect 5 of 5 clip from the line. David Semerad was also perfect from the field, contributing nine points as well. Ronald Tubid added eight.

"Masaya ako nakasurvive kami sa pressure defense ng Alaska. At the start medyo maganda outside shooting namin tapos nawala," said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria. "Masaya kami dahil mahirap talagang talunin ang Alaska. Well prepared sila at every game meron silang bagong ginagawa. Parang chess match ito hanggang sa huli kanya kanyang pasok."

Neither team could shake off the other in the first three periods, at they entered the fourth tied at 71-all. A Calvin Abueva and-one put Alaska on top, 79-78, but the Beermen unleashed a 7-0 run capped by a June Mar Fajardo jumper, 86-79. Cyrus Baguio tried to stop the bleeding at the other end with a triple, but Marcio Lassiter took it back with 3:11 left.

Misses from Eric Menk and Abueva let San Miguel preserve a seven-point spread heading into the final two minutes. Jayvee Casio and Cyrus Baguio accounted for back to back misses from deep, before Abueva finally got on the board with a pair of charities with 56 seconds remaining, 89-84.

Marcio Lassiter committed a turnover off a timeout, leading to an Abueva jumper that trimmed the lead to three. Arwind Santos secured two freethrows in the ensuing play, though, making it a five-point game with 18 seconds left, 91-86. The Aces caught a lucky break when Fajardo missed two freethrows with 11 ticks to go, but Dondon Hontiveros and Vic Manuel failed to connect on multiple tries at the other end, sealing San Miguel's win.

The two teams were knotted up at the half, with San Miguel's starters pouring in 34 of the team's 41 points. Alaska, on the other hand, relied on their bench, with Calvin Abueva, RJ Jazul and Vic Manuel combining for 26 points compared to their starters' 12 markers.

Abueva led Alaska with 24 points with 12 rebounds off the bench. Cyrus Baguio had 19 points, while Sonny Thoss had 11. Vic Manuel chipped in 13, while Dondon Hontiveros and RJ Jazul had nine each. - Renee Fopalan, GMA News


The scores:

San Miguel 93 - Santos 19, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 16, Kramer 9, Semerad 9, Tubid 8, Cabagnot 7, Lutz 4, Ross 2, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Fortuna 0, Maierhofer 0, Chua 0.

Alaska 88 - Abueva 24, Baguio 19, Manuel 13, Thoss 11, Hontiveros 9, Jazul 9, Menk 2, Eman 1, Banchero 0, Casio 0, Dela Cruz 0, Exciminiano 0, Dela Rosa 0, Espinas 0.

Quarterscores: 21-23, 41-41, 71-71, 93-88