San Miguel’s Terrence Romeo vs TNT’s Ping Exciminiano. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel dominated TNT, 103-90, on Friday to force a Game 7 to decide who moves on to the finals of 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
The Beermen bounced back from a disastrous 110-90 loss to the Tropang Giga in Game 5 of the series that never saw one team win twice in a row.
Alex Cabagnot pulled up for a jumper capping off a 13-0 run that gave the Beermen a 61-38 lead early in the third quarter, giving San Miguel more than enough of a foundation to hold off TNT’s run in the fourth.
A 9-0 run from the Tropang Giga managed to cut the deficit to 10, 98-88, after Roger Pogoy’s three-point play with 2:44 left but Marcio Lassiter regained normalcy for the Beermen as he answered with a triple for the Beermen’s 101-88 lead 33 seconds later.
“Experience is the number one thing for us,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “In this kind of situation we know what to do and we know how to win games. This was a do or die for us and luckily we had a good start and we were able to sustain our energy.”
Moala Tautuaa had a game-high 24 points with five rebounds and five assists for the Beermen while Lassiter added 19 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from deep, five rebounds, and four steals.
Arwind Santos pitched in 13 points and 10 rebounds while June Mar Fajardo also had his own double-double of 11 points and 14 boards.
Terrence Romeo also breached the 10-point mark with 16 points and six assists.
Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes led TNT with 16 points apiece.
Game 7 is on Sunday still at DHVSU Gym.