Photo from: PBA’s Twitter Account
San Miguel Beer kept its winning fourth-quarter rally in Game Five, beating TNT KaTropa to bring home the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown. The Beermen won with a 102-90 score on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Apparently, what the Beermen did in the past games, they improved on this one, which allowed them to beat KaTropa and earn one sweetest championships in franchise history.
With this, they get a back-to-back win from their Philippine Cup title conquest. It looks like a grand slam is within reach.
“Nakuha na namin yung second part. Isa na lang,” said Robert Non, SMB’s representative to the PBA board.
SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua acknowledged the effort of Standhardinger on national TV during the awards rites.
Additionally, Beermen guard Terrence Romeo got the Finals MVP award. He averaged 14 points, 4.3 assists and 2.3 rebounds.
“Na-overcome namin yung tough struggle,” said June Mar Fajardo, who best described their tough journey from a 2-5 start in the elims.
It became a little easier for the Beermen on KaTropa’s offensive struggle in Game Six.
But it’s not lost on SMB coach Leo Austria the tough showing of the KaTropa all tournament long.
“They brought the best out of our guys. We never thought we would make the finals at the start of the conference. We’re fortunate to win the championship,” said Austria.
With better shooting, the Beermen raced to a 14-point spread and took the half at 45-35.
The KaTropa struggled badly offensively, making just four of 25 three-pointers with Troy Rosario going 1-of-7 and Jayson Castro 1-of-5.
The Beermen drained 4-of-12 three-pointers and were far better with a 16-of-42 overall clip as against TNT’s 14-of-48.
As the KaTropa continued to throw bricks, the Beermen capitalized, stretching their lead to 19 before Castro rallied TNT to within 11, 63-74, at the end of the third.
Congratulations, Beermen!
