MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Beer forward Arwind Santos was named Finals MVP in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night.
Santos averaged 18.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game but he saved his best for last with 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to help the Beermen survive another relentless rally by the Alaska Aces and capture their first all-Filipino title since 2001.
“He is being criticized for shooting too many outside shots but earlier it was the one that gave us the advantage,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria, referring to Santos’ go-ahead 3-pointer with under a minute left, in Filipino.
San Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos shoots a 3-pointer over Alaska’s Calvin Abueva in Game 1 of the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. Santos made the go-ahead triple over Abueva in the waning seconds of Game 7. PBA IMAGE/NUKI SABIO
“It feels like we’ve been able to get the trust of the San Miguel fans back after all our failures,” Santos said in Filipino after the Beermen ended a four-year title drought with an 80-78 escape over the Aces in Game 7.
It was also San Miguel’s first championship since winning the 2011 Governors’ Cup where Santos also bagged the Finals MVP award.
The 33-year-old Santos buried a clutch triple that put the Beermen ahead for good, 79-78, with only 43.7 seconds left when it had seemed that the Aces had taken control after coming back from 23 points down.
Upon being presented with the award, Santos spoke at center court and thanked his teammates, coaches, management and the fans, whom he said had continued to show support for him and team ever since.