Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Beer made the most out of a gaping hole within TNT’s manpower late to carve out thrilling 127-125 victory in double overtime and level the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at 1-1 Wednesday night at Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Limited throughout the contest, June Mar Fajardo knocked down both his freebies to bring the Beermen up by two with 32 ticks to play. Chris Ross, then, made a crucial stop on in the next sequence for a cushion.
“We had a lot of lapses, mistakes. But a win is a win,” said SMB coach Leo Austria, who drew five twin-digit scoring performances from its crew, including Terrence Romeo’s finest yet in a San Miguel Beer uniform.
Jayson Castro had 27 points in the losing stand as he tried to make up for the late-game ejections of do-it-all import Terrence Jones and Troy Rosario. He missed two clear looks from the three-point line in the dying moments of the second overtime that would’ve given the KaTropa, who trailed for most of the regulation, a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Rosario, TNT’s hottest marksman in the playoffs, had a career-best 34 points, 25 of which coming in their spirited bids for a comeback.
Jones flirted with a triple-double anew, firing 28 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists before getting called for his second technical foul.
Both flagship teams shoot for the tiebreaker in Game 3 on Friday night again at the fabled Big Dome.
The scores:
San Miguel 127 – McCullough 32, Romeo 29, Ross 25, Cabagnot 19, Fajardo 12, Standhardinger 7, Pessumal 2, Santos 1, Rosser 0.
TNT 125 – Rosario 34, Jones 28, Castro 27, Pogoy 17, Trollano 14, Heruela 5, Washington 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 32-25, 59-45, 84-77, 106-106, 114-114, 127-125.