Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Arwind Santos was happy to make up for his missed jumper in the closing moments of the game with two clutch freebies in the last 2.2 seconds of San Miguel’s Game 4 victory over Magnolia.
Santos came up short on what could’ve been the dagger with niney seconds left that left the Hotshots enough time to either force overtime or snatch the game away.
But San Miguel banked on its defense as Marcio Lassiter and Santos swarmed Mark Barroca, who lost the ball and paved way for Santos’ game-sealing freebies.
“God is good that I was able to get those free throws because I really wanted to win. When I made those shots, it was the hand of God,” said Santos after the Beermen’s 84-80 win that gave them a 3-1 lead in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Wednesday.
The 2013 PBA MVP admitted that he had a hard time against the Hotshots’ defense which led to his flubbed bucket.
“I was trying to shake off (Rome) dela Rosa and when I got a pass from (Chris) Ross, I was surprised that I was open. I kind of went strong on my shot.”
.@TheSMBeermen’s @arwindsotnas says that closing out the series on Friday won’t be an easy one, especially with Magnolia fighting for its life. #PBA2018 #PBAFinals pic.twitter.com/QCmatjSFCi
— Randolph B. Leongson (@RLeongsonINQ) April 4, 2018
The Kapampangan forward thinks that if Game 4 was any indication, they will have their hands full in trying to close out a team like Magnolia, which has show immense heart throughout the series.
“We had a hard time on their defense and now that we’ll have a one-day preparation, we’ll find a solution on that,” he said.
In the end, though, Santos believes that the game, and ultimately the championship, will boil down on who wants it more.
“I believe that when we want the win, whatever defense they will throw at us, we’ll get it,” he said. “We want to celebrate on Friday. We want to stay up late and we want to taste a lot of alcohol again.”