MANILA, Philippines—On Sunday, Arwind Santos as if guaranteed a San Miguel Beer win over Magnolia in Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
The Beermen made their star forward look like a genius after steamrolling the Hotshots, 114-98, to tie their best-of-seven series Wednesday night.
Following the victory, the ever-confident Santos was at it again.
“O di ba tabla na. Hindi naman kami nag-relax para hindi namin maitabla,” he told reporters after Game 4. “Talagang ginawa namin ang lahat, lalo na si June Mar (Fajardo).”
READ: PBA Finals: Hot-shooting Beermen tie series, torch Hotshots in Game 4
(The series is now tied. We never relaxed for us not to even it up. We really did everything we could especially June Mar.)
“Game 5? Hindi na natin pwede i-tie yan. Malamang may lalamang. Malamang kami na yun. Sana kami na,” Santos said. “Magpe-pray kami at magtitiwala kami sa bawat isa para makuha namin yun. Lahat kami nakikita ko sa dugout, gigil na gigil kami kasi gusto talaga namin makauna, hindi kami makauna. Sana itong Game 5.”
(Obviously, one team is going to lead the series after Game 5 and most likely, it’s going to be us. I hope it’s us. We’ll pray for it and continue to believe in each other for us to win that game. Everyone in the dugout is determined to pull ahead in this series and hopefully we’ll be able to do it in Game 5.)
READ: Hotshots hold off Beermen for 2-1 series lead
June Mar Fajardo led SMB with 31 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the field.
Santos finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists as the Beermen shot 51 percent from the field after struggling to make shots in Game 3.
Game 5 is on Friday night.