BREAKING the trend, San Miguel Beer posted the first back-to-back wins against rival Barangay Ginebra in this erstwhile back-and-forth semifinal contest.
In the process, the Beermen, at 3-2, put themselves on the doorstep of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup finals.
Sustaining the charge from their 107-82 equalizer in Game 4, the troops of coach Leo Austria reasserted themselves in a 103-92 followup to wrest the upperhand in the race-to-four series Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jericho Cruz fired a season-high 27 points spiked by a 3-of-4 clip from the three-point arc to go with four steals off the bench to complement the strong outings of SMB's 1-2 punch CJ Perez (playoffs career-best 31 markers) and June Mar Fajardo (14-12 double-double).
Don Trollano joined the fray with 11, making nine of them in the fourth to help the Beermen break away for good.
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After losing the Games 1 and 3 then countering with a bounceback wins in Games 2 and 4 in the first four matches, SMB is now in command for the first time in the series with the chance to close it out on Sunday.
"The players knew the importance of this game kasi usually ang nananalo ng Game 5s, malaki ang chances to get into the finals," said Austria.
"But ah still have a lot of work because alam natin ang kalaban naman natin ay never say die so we're expecting na the next game, they will come focused and with a lot of energy."
Cruz dropped 12 in the third canto as he helped SMB to a 54-44 tear before it settled for a 74-71 breathing space. He then produced a crucial steal in the crunch that led to a Trollano bucket that lifted the Beermen to a 95-88 cushion going to the last 3:02.
"Kinapalan ko lang ang mukha ko," Best Player of the Game Cruz said, smiling.
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Turning serious, he added: "Lahat iyung depensa naka-focus din kay June Mar so palaging na-open ako. So I have to take my shots kasi kung papasok 'yan, siyempre iiwan ako ni coach sa court, kapag hindi na-sho-shoot 'yan, siyempre next man up. Pero 'yun nga, kami araw-araw kami nag-pa-practice ng shooting so kumpiyansa ako sa mga tira na binibigay sa 'kin ng Ginebra." (OL)
The Scores :
SAN MIGUEL 103 - Perez 31, Cruz 27, Fajardo 14, Trollano 11, Tiongson 6, Teng 4, Tautuaa 3, Lassiter 3, Brondial 2, Rosales 2, Ross 0.
GINEBRA 92 - Ahanmisi 19, Thompson 14, Malonzo 13, J.Aguilar 12, Rosario 11, Holt 10, David 7, Abarrientos 6, R.Aguilar 0, Gray 0.
QUARTERS: 12-20, 49-44, 74-71, 103-92
