San Miguel Beermen give TNT KaTropa the boot
THE defending PBA Philippine Cup champions San Miguel Beermen moved one round closer to getting back to the finals after defeating the TNT KaTropa, 106-93, in their quarterfinals contest yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Holding a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament, the top-seeded Beermen saw no need to make use of it, dispatching the eight-seeded KaTropa at the first instance by banking on their collective composure and big-play mentality to hold off a competitive challenge from TNT and march on to the next semifinals.
The contest got off to a frenetic pace with both teams having their guns slinging before San Miguel made its move to separate itself, towed by June Mar Fajardo, holding a 14-7 lead in the first five minutes of the opening quarter and extending it to a 10-point cushion, 28-18, with a little over two minutes remaining.
TNT managed to cut the Beermen’s lead to just five points, 2823, a minute later and eventually settled for an eight-point deficit, 31-23, at the end of the first canto.
In the second quarter, the KaTropa continued with their aggressive play on both ends of the court, with Troy Rosario and Jayson Castro showing the way, coming within three points of the Beermen a couple of times.
But San Miguel would find ways to keep its opponent at bay en route to taking a 52-44 advantage by the halftime break.
TNT remained undeterred despite San Miguel doing a good job at fending it off as it went on an early explosion to begin the third quarter.
With Messrs. Rosario and Castro and Roger Pogoy as catalysts, the KaTropa outscored the Beermen, 22-12, in the first six minutes of the period to overtake the latter, 66-64.
The two teams fought it out tight thereafter before San Miguel guard Marcio Lassiter strung up five straight points in the last 36 seconds of the third period to remain on top, 77-72, heading into the final 12 minutes of the contest.
The KaTropa opened the payoff quarter with a 7-2 run to level the count at 79-all at the 7:42 mark.
Like what they have been all game long though, the Beermen would stay afloat and come back with a run of their own to keep the KaTropa in check.
They held a five- point gap, 88-83, with 5:13 remaining with Arwind Santos waxing hot from beyond the arc.
TNT pulled within two points, 90- 88, a minute later only to be answered back by Messrs. Santos and Fajardo with back- to- back baskets to give their team more breathing space, 94- 88, with a little over three minutes to go.
San Miguel would maintain the same distance, 96-90, as the contest entered the last two minutes.
Stepping up their defense, the Beermen extended their lead to 10 points, 100-90, with 1:20 left in the game.
Action was briefly halted after Mr. Santos and TNT guard Jericho Cruz got in a near fracas, resulting in a second technical foul for the former and an ejection while the latter was meted a flagrant foul 1 and had to sit out the remainder of regulation.
The incident though did not disrupt the momentum of the Beermen as they went for the close-out and send the KaTropa packing.
Mr. Fajardo led San Miguel with a game-high 35 points to go along with 11 rebounds and two blocks.
Mr. Lassiter had 20 points while Mr. Santos finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks.
TNT, meanwhile, was paced by Messrs. Rosario and Castro with 19 points each with Mr. Pogoy adding 17 and Anthony Semerad 16 points.
“It was a tough game for us. TNT came in hot, winning their knockout matches by wide margins. But credit to our players for sticking to our game plan and going for the win,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
The Beermen now await the winner of the quarterfinal pairing between the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. The Kings hold a 1-0 series lead over the E-Painters in their best-of-three affair with Game Two set for today at 4:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.