San Miguel Beer’s Final Four series with TNT KaTropa in the PBA Philippine Cup is going the distance, something which coach Leo Austria said he expected right from the very start.
And one thing going for him is that his Beermen will be coming off their most dominant form, carved out in the final half of Game 6 on Saturday night in a 104-88 destruction of the Texters at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I was really expecting [a Game 7], because if you look at their lineup, they are equally talented,” Austria said. “Our only advantage, I think, is that we have June Mar (Fajardo). That’s the difference.”
Fajardo backed Austria’s statement and churned out the 11th 20-20 of his career with 23 points and 21 rebounds in just over 31 minutes.
The 6-foot-10 cornerstone scored nine points in the breakaway fourth period, 13 in the final half, as the Beermen peeled away from what had been a tight game to take a winning feeling into Monday’s sudden-death showdown scheduled again at the ultra-modern Pasay venue.
“I hope they (Beermen) realize the importance of this campaign for us,” Austria, referring to the San Miguel franchise’s bid for a first hat trick in the season’s most-chased conference.
“All of them wanted to win [tonight], and they came back from a below par first half,” he said. “Hopefully, it happens again in the next game.”
Jason Castro left the game with over seven minutes left and complained of something in his leg. He went straight to the dugout and never returned.
Asked of the possibility that Castro might not be available for the decider, Austria said that it “would be one good situation for us.”
“Should that happen, we would have one less headache [for Game 7],” Austria said.
Castro still went on to lead all TNT shooters with 19 points, with Larry Fonacier and rookie RR Pogoy shooting 12 apiece. The Texters, though, missed sophomore Troy Rosario, a vital component in the Texters’ help defense on Fajardo.
Rosario got married to longtime girlfriend Mich Aguas Saturday.
Austria wished the new couple a wonderful married life “and that they stay together forever,” but at the same time jokingly asked for Rosario “to get married again on Monday [and be out of Game 7].”
Arwind Santos fired 21 points and had nine rebounds, while Alex Cabagnot chipped in with 19 and dished off seven assists. Chris Ross was the fourth man in twin digits for the Beermen with 14.