STAR Hotshots import Ricardo Ratiffe (20) tries to score against San Miguel Beer’s Tyler Wilkerson (left) and Arwind Santos. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
It came from San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria himself: The Grand Slam is still there.
The Beermen stayed on track toward winning the second jewel of a rare Triple Crown, rallying mightily in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to clip Star, 103-99, and make the Final Four of the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
San Miguel trailed for most of the night before dominating the Hotshots in the last six minutes on both ends, marching to the semifinals of this tournament for the first time since 2011 and keeping alive every PBA squad’s dream: the treble.
“It was very obvious in this game that the players refused to lose,” Austria, although stammering, said with pride. “They (Beermen) know the glory of winning. The Grand Slam is (still) there.”
Tyler Wilkerson carried the Beermen when practically the entire team struggled, shooting 46 points, before Chris Ross stepped up huge in the waning minutes and did almost everything as San Miguel avoided becoming just the fourth No. 1 seed to be bundled out by the eighth-ranked squad.
The San Miguel defense finally held in the final six minutes as Star was limited to just three points, none of which came inside the last 3:18.
After giving up 87 points in the first three quarters, San Miguel allowed just 12 in the final period, holding Star import Ricardo Ratliffe and gunslinger Peter June Simon scoreless in that stretch after the duo had combined for 45.
San Miguel thus advanced to a best-of-five series opposite Rain or Shine, which swept the Beermen’s more popular sister team, Barangay Ginebra, on Tuesday night. That series will start on Sunday.
This also marks the third straight conference that San Miguel and the Elasto Painters will collide in the Final Four series, with the Beermen holding a 7-3 advantage and going on to win the last two championships.
Ratliffe finished with 24 points and Simon 21, with Marc Pingris adding 18 for the Hotshots, who came so close to duplicating what defunct Powerade did to them in the 2012 Philippine Cup.
San Miguel trailed by as large as 11 points and came so close to allowing the Hotshots to break away. Marcio Lassiter had 11 points in the third before Wilkerson scored nine of his total in the fourth to keep it close.
Ross then came up with so many great plays in the stretch, including a steal and a layup with 1:16 left that broke a 99-all tie with 76 seconds left and sent the Beermen on the way to victory.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL BEER 103—Wilkerson 46, Lassiter 17, Ross 13, Santos 10, Fajardo 9, Espinas 8, Cabagnot 0, Tubid 0.
STAR 99—Ratliffe 24, Simon 21, Pingris 18, Mallari 10, Maliksi 9, Barroca 8, Melton 5, Sangalang 4, Reavis 0.
Quarters: 21-29, 52-54, 78-87, 103-99