CHAMPS AGAIN. San Miguel wins its second title this season. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–San Miguel Beer pounced on TNT’s shooting woes and early foul trouble to hammer out a 102-90 victory and capture the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown in six games Friday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
They Beermen their bid for a Grand Slam alive, winning two of the three titles so far this season.
They got the goods from import Chris McCullough and June Mar Fajardo, who had 35 and 19 points, respectively, and drew a commendable performance from Christian Standhardinger who added 18 off the bench to script a scintillating end to what initially looked a goner conference.
San Miguel, which managed to turn its campaign around from 2-5 record in the eliminations, kept its poise throughout a humid first half and came back an even mightier side in the second to further hike their league-most championships to 27.
.@TheSMBeermen has kept their bid for a @pbaconnect #GrandSlam alive at the expense of @tntkatropa_ph.
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@INQUIRERSports @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/Nvdyd92w9T— Denison Rey Dalupang (@sonrdINQ) August 16, 2019
Coach Leo Austria, meanwhile, captured his eighth PBA title and tied Chot Reyes for the fifth-best in the league.
San Miguel guard Terrence Romeo was named PBA Press Corps Honda Finals Most Valuable Player for his big contributions off the bench the entire series.
He finished the game with ten points and seven assists in the clincher but his finest outing coming in Game 2 where he helped the Beermen survive KaTropa in double overtime with 29 points.
The KaTropa, this conference’s top seed, for their part, still came down swinging, drawing a monster double-double of 41 points and 12 rebounds from reinforcement Terrence Jones and 16 points from skipper Jayson Castro, this conference’s top individual performers.
The scores:
San Miguel 102 – McCullough 35, Fajardo 19, Standhardinger 18, Cabagnot 10, Romeo 10, Ross 7, Pessumal 4, Santos 0.
TNT 90 – Jones 41, Castro 16, Pogoy 13, Rosario 8, Heruela 6, Taha 4, Trollano 2, Washington 0, Reyes 0, D. Semerad 0, Casiño 0.
Quarterscores: 26-19, 45-35, 74-63, 102-90.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW