San Miguel Beer clamped down hard on TNT KaTropa in the second half on Friday night to complete a rally from 15 points down and move within a win of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title after a 111-102 triumph that highlighted the talent of a franchise working on building a modern-day dynasty.
Alex Cabagnot scored 12 points in the fourth period, Arwind Santos had 20 of 27 in the second half and the San Miguel defense held the Texters to just 41 points in the final two quarters at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“This game proves the saying that defense wins championships,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “They worked together on defense. That’s the character of this team, the character that gave us our first championship together.”
After allowing Ranidel de Ocampo 19 first-half points that powered the Texters to a 61-46 lead at the half, the Beermen held the many-time national team member scoreless in the final two periods while also making life hell for Jason Castro in the same stretch.
San Miguel now has two chances to wrap this thing up and snap a 17-year title drought in this tournament—starting with Game 6 on Sunday.
But, more importantly, a title here puts the Beermen in line for a second Grand Slam.
“This is not over yet,” Austria warned, even as TNT coach Nash Racela is looking at one key statistic that did them in.
“We have to limit our turnovers,” Racela said after his charges committed 24 total blunders. “Again, the goal is to get to a Game 7. Our emotions cannot be dictated [by the result] of this game. We have to be focused on the next game.”