Beermen back in driver’s seat

Game Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 7:30 p.m. – Magnolia vs San Miguel Beer * SMB leads series, 3-2 No way was San Miguel Beer letting Magnolia get away with murder thrice in a row and get to the doorstep of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup throne.

Making course correction after blowing a 2-0 head start, the Beermen pulled around with a 108-98 romp over Magnolia to wrest a pivotal 3-2 upperhand in the race-to-four finale last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Back-on-track SMB can close it out in Game 6 and claim coach Jorge Gallent’s first and the franchise’s 29th overall champion with a Valentine’s Day clincher.

In his most explosive outing in the playoffs, Jericho Cruz scattered 30 big points spiked by eight triples as he helped SMB seize control late in the first and landed the long bombs that kept Magnolia at bay the rest of the way.

Simon Enciso, in his first start in the series, also delivered big time with 15 markers – all from beyond the arc – to ease the offensive burden on Bennie Boatwright, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez.

Boatwright finished with 21 while Fajardo, bucking calf issues, produced 18-15 and Perez, the Best Player of the Conference, had eight.

After leading by as many as 14 points and holding a 99-90 cushion going to the last 3:29, SMB was made to sweat it out before wrapping it up against no-quit Magnolia.

With the Hotshots threatening to within 99-96, Cruz hit his eighth triple of the night to spark a 9-2 windup that put the game away for good.

“We stayed composed in the fourth quarter when they made a run. We made some mistakes but we (quickly) made up,” said Gallent.

As opposed to their losses in Games 3 (8088) and 4 (85-96), Cruz and the Beermen found ways to rake in buckets against Magnolia’s stifling defense in the pivotal tiebreaking match. The scores: San Miguel 108 – Cruz 30, Boatwright 21, Fajardo 18, Enciso 15, Trollano 10, Perez 8, Lassiter 2, Tautuaa 2, Ross 2, Brondial 0.

Magnolia 98 – Bey 34, Jalalon 17, Sangalang 15, Lee 12, Dionisio 6, Abueva 5, Barroca 4, Dela Rosa 3, Laput 2, Reavis 0, Tratter 0.

Quarterscores: 25-18, 48-41, 76-68, 108-98