SAN Miguel clinched the last semifinals seat in the PBA Governors' Cup after avoiding perhaps one of the biggest upsets in league history with a 109-105 comeback win over pesky Converge Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Beermen put together an 18-6 run in the last six minutes to turn around a game controlled by the FiberXers most of the way.
Now June Mar Fajardo and the rest of the Beermen face Justine Brownlee and the Barangay Ginebra Kings in a highly-anticipated best of seven semifinals.
Before the start of the semis, here's a quick rundown of the takeaways in the sudden-death Game 5 between San Miguel and Converge.
READ: Fajardo's monster 40-24 game rescues SMB in Game Five vs Converge
1.FAJARDO TO THE RESCUE AGAIN FOR SMB
The moment he stepped inside the press room for the post-game interview, coach Jorge Gallent could only say a big thank you to his prized big man. Perhaps Fajardo deserved more than that after carrying the Beermen on his broad shoulders anew to escape an embarrassing elimination.
The eight time MVP was the one who kept the team in the first half when the FiberXers appeared ready to tear the game apart. Fajardo had 22 of his 40 points during that stretch, and added 24 rebounds in another yeoman's job for the team.
The 6-foot-10 Cebuano was virtually unstoppable in the paint as Justin Arana, Bryan Santos, and import Jalen Jones alternated in slowing down Fajardo but to no avail.
2.CONVERGE WILL ONLY GET BET BETTER
The FiberXers obviously gained enough experience and confidence as a team after pushing the Beermen on the brink. Now they will go to the rest of the season equipped with all the lessons learned from their best ever showing in the playoffs.
What’s more, the team is expected to get a lot of help in the coming Commissioner’s Cup with the expected entry of no. 1 overall pick Justine Baltazar and second round selection Pao Javillonar.
3.COACH JORGE GALLENT DODGES A BULLET
A San Miguel loss in the series would have a big impact on Gallent’s stint with the team. Expectations naturally are high on the multi-titled mentor especially with a star-studded roster under his disposal led by Fajardo.
What was expected to be a cruise for the Beermen almost turned into a nightmare as they needed to make a last minute scramble to dispose a persistent Converge side.
A loss would have been the first quarterfinals exit for the Beermen under Gallent after previously making the semis (2023 Governors Cup), winning the Commissioner’s Cup (2024), and losing in the Philippine Cup finals (2024).
4. BRYAN SANTOS’ STAR SHINES IN THE PLAYOFFS
One bright spot for Converge in the quarterfinals was the impressive showing of the unheralded 6-foot-4 Santos. The former UST and TIP forward was clutch from Games 3 to 5 behind his deadly shooting from long range.
He was 5-of-9 from three point range for 16 points in the sorry Game 5 loss, aside from having to deal with the 6-foot-10 Fajardo on the defensive side. For the entire playoffs, Santos averaged 11.0 points behind a team-best 50 percent shooting from three-point range (16-of-32).
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