PBA: Santos stars as San Miguel buries Talk 'N Text in 3-0 hole

The San Miguel Beermen are one win away from sweeping the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters after posting a 96-95 win on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Arwind Santos led San Miguel with 23 points, while June Mar Fajardo had 18 points and nine rebounds. Marcio Lassiter and Rico Maierhofer were effective off the bench, scoring 17 and 10, respectively.

"Gusto ko magpasalamat; we were able to salvage the game. This is a very emotional game," said San Miguel coach Leo Austria, refering to the off court drama sparked by Talk 'N Text counterpart Jong Uichico's allegations of unfair calls when playing against the Beermen.

"It's a word war but they feel it e. They came out stronger, they had a good start, I told the boys we shouldn't lose our composure."

The Texters held on to a one-point lead entering the final period, 76-75, but makes from the perimeter by Alex Cabagnot, Ronald Tubid and Arwind Santos gave San Miguel an eight-point edge, 88-80.

Jay Washington sparked Talk 'N Text's final push, scoring five straight, as Ranidel De Ocampo and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser both split their charities for the Texters to come within one, 92-91, with 1:56 to go. Arwind Santos responded with a trey, but De Ocampo quickly took it back at the other end. A Jayson Castro split knotted the game at 95-all with 48 seconds left.

The Beermen opted for a Cabagnot shot to get ahead, but the pointguard missed. Arwind Santos was there for the offensive rebound, and the extra possession led to a Ganuelas-Rosser foul on Cabagnot. The San Miguel point guard hit the first but missed the second, as Talk 'N Text called for time for the winning play.

With 10 seconds to work with, the Texters went to De Ocampo for the win, but the shot didn't fall through. June Mar Fajardo secured the rebound for another San Miguel victory.

Ranidel De Ocampo tallied 21 points while Jayson Castro had 15. Jay Washington added 12 while Jimmy Alapag and Ryan Reyes chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. — Renee Fopalan/JST, GMA News

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 96 - Santos 23, Fajardo 18, Lassiter 17, Maierhofer 10, Cabagnot 9, Lutz 8, Tubid 7, Ross 2, Kramer 2, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Fortuna 0, Semerad 0, Chua 0.

TALK N' TEXT 95 - De Ocampo 21, Castro 15, Washington 12, Alapag 11, Reyes R. 10, Rosser 9, Carey 7, Fonacier 7, Aban 3, Alas 0, Reyes R.J. 0, Williams 0, Espiritu 0.

Quarters: 26-28, 49-55, 75-76, 96-95