Aug 15, 2019

This is one of those games when SMB counts on championship experience

WHAT difference championship experience makes.

Coach Leo Austria believes the Beermen's poise saved their PBA Commissioner's Cup campaign Wednesday night which saw them came back from the grave to stun TnT Katropa, 99-94, in a surprising twist to Game 5 of the finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"In a situation like this, the players' composure is always intact as long as there are still minutes left," said Austria, architect of San Miguel's last seven championships in five seasons

"So they know we can still catch up and that's what happened. And that's because of the experience of the team."

Everything weren't going San Miguel's way entering the fourth period when it trailed, 82-69.

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TnT Katropa then stretched the lead to its biggest at 85-69 on a Roger Pogoy three-pointer at the 10 minute mark of the quarter.

But suddenly, the Katropa forgot to play team basketball, which didn't escape the Beermen's attention and were quick to capitalize.

With import Chris McCullough leading the charge, San Miguel went on an 18-5 run to charge back into the game, 90-87.

The Katropa manages to keep the lead, but it was obvious the Beermen had turned the tide around into their favor.

McCullough's floater off a drive finally gave San Miguel the lead for good, 95-94, with 28 seconds left.

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The 24-year-old McCullough equaled the output of San Miguel counterpart Terrence Jones with a game-high 35 points.

But he outplayed the conference's Best Import, 19-3, in the final 10 minutes when it mattered most.

McCullough though said it was not all on him alone but deferred to his teammates for making the dramatic comeback win possible.

And he did agree with his coach championship had a lot to do with it.

"That's SMB basketball," said the former NBA player. "They've been doing that for years. This is my first year with them, but they've been doing that for years." (RG)