Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Defending champion San Miguel Beer banked on a blistering third quarter run to put away a shorthanded Rain or Shine side, 105-92, and level their 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals series at 2-2 Monday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Believe it or not, June Mar Fajardo, the reigning back-to-back MVP, had his fifth straight game with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds with 33 points and 16 rebounds that went with six blocks in Game 4 for the Beermen, who went on a 23-3 run late in the third period to pull away from a 61-deadlock.
“Thank God we were able to solve our first quarter because usually we have bad starts,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria. “For us, we’re on the brink of elimination because only a few teams have been able to come back from a 3-1 deficit.”
The Beermen, coming off a sorry loss in Game 3 last Saturday, took the fight out of the Painters near the end of the third quarter after Paul Lee was called for his sixth and final foul when he tried to draw the charge on Gabby Espinas with 2.7 seconds left in the third quarter. Espinas made 1-of-2 at the free throw line to stretch San Miguel’s lead to its biggest at 22, 90-68, entering the fourth quarter.
Marcio Lassiter added 20 points, half of which came in the first quarter where the Beermen jumped out to an early 19-7 spread while Arwind Santos collected 19 points and seven rebounds.
The Elasto Painters survived the absence of one of their key big men in Raymond Almazan, who has been ruled out of the series due to a sprained right ankle he sustained on the eve of Game 3, last Saturday, but losing Jericho Cruz (knee) as well proved to be too much to overcome especially with Fajardo in his usual dominant self and the rest of the Beermen a threat on the outside.
Lassiter made all of his four 3-pointers while Santos connected on a couple from long distance.
The pivotal Game 5 is on Wednesday night also at the Big Dome.
Rookies Maverick Ahanmisi and Don Trollano scored 15 points each for Rain or Shine as veterans Beau Belga and Jeff Chan, who came up big in Game 3, combined for only 11 points.