June Mar Fajardo (SMB) vs Kelly Williams (TNT). PBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – June Mar Fajardo couldn’t be contained anew and San Miguel Beer swept Talk ‘N Text following a 100-87 win in Game 4 of their 2015 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals series Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo towered over the Tropang Texters, who were just helpless against him throughout the series, with 28 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.
“Hindi madali lahat (nothing is easy). Nasa Finals na kami so mas tataasan pa namin ang intensity (we’re in the Finals now so we have to play with more intensity),” Fajardo said.
But by the way Fajardo obliterated the Tropang Texters — scoring in a variety of ways, finding open teammates out of double teams and securing key rebounds — he certainly made it look easy.
A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Marcio Lassiter to end the third quarter appeared to have taken the life out of Talk ‘N Text, who entered the fourth quarter down, 73-57.
The proud Texters though, went down swinging with veteran point guard Jimmy Alapag hitting a triple that brought his team back to within single digits, 75-66, early in the final period.
But the story of Game 4 was also the story of the series so far.
Fajardo scored six straight points — a hook shot over three defenders, a reverse and a turn around jumper — that stretched the Beermen’s lead back to 16, 88-72, with 4:04 remaining.
The 25-year-old center, who had 11 points in the last quarter alone, then completed a three-point play before sinking two free throws to seal San Miguel Beer’s first-ever sweep in a best-of-seven duel in franchise history.
“I did not expect this to happen because I have a lot of respect to Talk ‘N Text. They are very organized and they have a lot of players playing for the national team,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria. “The players just saw the opportunity to win.”
Alapag had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Texters, who got swept for the first time.
The Beermen will face the winner between the Alaska Aces and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the championship. That series is currently tied at 2-2, giving San Miguel Beer time to rest.
San Miguel Beer notched its 34th Finals appearance, the most in the league. The Beermen will be gunning to win their first all-Filipino Cup title since 2001.