Beermen wins PBA Finals

The San Miguel Beermen had been mired in an endless cycle of futility and frustration. On Wednesday night, they finally rose from the ashes and hacked out an 80-78 victory over the equally-resilient Alaska Aces to win the PBA Philippine Cup – their very championship in three years.


The title also happened to be the Beermen’s first All-Filipino crown since 2001, a 14-year drought filled with so much drama that when the squad was still carrying the Petron name, they earned the moniker “Petronovela.” But all that was put behind, thanks to the combined efforts of the much-maligned forward-slash-recording artist Arwind Santos and Cebu’s very own, June Mar Fajardo.


Santos, who was named as the Finals MVP, earned every bit of the honor with a scintillating performance of 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. The Pampanga-native, a former MVP of the league, silenced his critics in emphatic fashion as he swished a three-pointer with 43.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter that placed San Miguel in front for good after the squad wasted away a 23-point lead and once faced a six-point deficit during the said stretch.


Fajardo, who was proudly wearing the shirt of his alma mater, the University of Cebu, underneath his jersey, also gave credence to his burgeoning reputation as the future of Philippine basketball as he scored 21 points and had a whopping 25 rebounds to win his very first title in the pros. Moreover, he stopped Alaska big man and fellow Cebuano Sonny Thoss from scoring a basket that would have given the Aces back the lead leading to a free-throw by Santos for an 80-78 tally with 19.8 ticks remaining.


Alaska had several chances to tie the game or win outright but squandered them all. “The Beast” Calvin Abueva missed a floater and a tip-in. And when San Miguel guard Ronald Tubid called for a timeout off a rebound scramble when the Beermen had none, Cebuano hotshot Dondon Hontiveros uncharacteristically missed the technical free-throw.

Alaska had one final shot as Abueva was able to force a jump-ball with Fajardo with a little over two seconds remaining. The Aces recovered the ball but Casio’s potential game-winning triple was way off the mark as time expired, to give the Beermen the crown.

It was a gallant stand by the Aces who showed their resiliency once again, coming all the way back from a double-digit deficit to take a six-point lead, 74-68, in the fourth after Abueva capped a sizzling 11-0 run with back-to-back makes. But San Miguel was just as tenacious and came storming back behind two charity stripe makes by Fajardo, a transition bucket by Chris Lutz and a tip-in by Ronald Tubid to narrow the gap, 76-78.

Abueva led the defeated Aces with 23 markers while Toss finished with 15. The scores: SAN MIGUEL 80 - Santos 22, Fajardo 21, Tubid 12, Lutz 10, Cabagnot 10, Lassiter 5, Maierhofer 0, Ross 0, Kramer 0, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Fortuna 0, Semerad 0, Chua 0. ALASKA 78 - Abueva 23, Thoss 15, Baguio 11, Casio 7, Banchero 6, Manuel 4, Hontiveros 4, Jazul 4, Exciminiano 2, Menk 2, Eman 0, Dela Rosa 0, Dela Cruz 0, Espinas 0. Quartercores: 21-12, 48-27, 62-59, 80-78.

Jonas Rey N. Panerio
Contributor - Sports & Lifestyle

Photos from Spin.ph