San Miguel Beer, a mean scoring machine with its Magnificent Six led by Charles Rhodes and June Mar Fajardo, battled Star in a dull defensive duel but happily forged a 1-1 deadlock in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four faceoff with a 77-76 escape act at the MOA Arena Monday night.
The Beermen stood their ground in the tough defensive battle to the very end, defending well against the Hotshots’ make-or-break attack in the closing seconds to complete their crucial grind-out victory.
San Miguel eventually avenged its 105-109 loss in Game One as Paul Lee failed to shake off a swarming defense and missed badly on a floater.
“This is the very kind of game I was expecting. I have to commend my players, and we’re lucky Paul Lee’s last shot didn’t connect,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.
“Kahit one point lang yan, tatanggapin ko ng buong-buo,” Austria added.
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The Beermen let Ricardo Ratliffe to have another huge double-double game but jammed the guns of the Star shooters, and in the process put to a halt the Hotshots’ eight-game streak from the elimination round.
They handed Ratliffe his first loss this season.
Ratliffe came through with 35 rebounds (second all-time most in PBA playoffs) and 28 points but the Hotshots gunners were held to six three-pointers, just half of their hits in their Game One victory.
Offensively, starters Charles Rhodes, Alex Cabagnot, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter combined for all but 10 of SMB’s production.
They all saw action for at least 32 minutes, and each one delivered at least 10 points.
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Austria limited his rotation to nine men, tapping only four reserves in Arwind Santos, Ronald Tubid, Gabby Espinas and Brian Heruela.
Santos nailed his lone field-goal basket – a trey – to shatter a 74-all count in the last 3:40 of play then the Beermen fought the Hotshots stoppage for stoppage.
With a focus on defense after yielding much buckets in the previous game, the Beermen made the Hotshots to bleed for their points in the opening half.
They extended their defense on the Star shooters, holding them to 1-of-10 three-point shooting in the first 24 minutes of play.
Meanwhile, Lassiter, Cabagnot and Ross combined for six treys as the Beermen took the half at 44-30.
The Beermen opened an early double-digit spread before closing the first quarter at 25-16 on a buzzer-beating putback by Fajardo off Rafi Reavis.
