THE Philsports Arena is one lucky venue for Chris Ross.
The San Miguel guard won his 11th PBA championship with the franchise, as the Beermen downed TNT in Game 6 of the finals Friday night to reclaim the Philippine Cup.
READ: SMB reclaims PBA Philippine Cup title, denies TNT a grand slam
Ross went 3-of-6 from three-point range to finish with nine points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the title-clinching 107-96 win.
And not lost on the 40-year-old Fil-Am is the good fortune the Pasig arena has brought to him in his pro career.
“I was talking to some of the coaches and asked them if they remember the last time we’ve played here in the finals,” Ross shared to SPIN.ph.
The answer? Almost a decade ago also during the all-Filipino Cup finals between SMB and Alaska.
To be more specific, it was Game 4 of the title series with San Miguel trailing 0-3 and on the verge of elimination.
But Ross instigated a late Beermen comeback from 10 points down in the final five minutes to force overtime and win the game, 110-104. The team captain capped his heroics with a near-triple-double of 11 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists.
That proved to be a prelude to what will go down as the greatest comeback in PBA history.
“That started off the ‘Beer-acle,’” said Ross, as SMB went on to sweep the remaining games of the series and retained its crown by completing a massive return from down three games to none.
Feelin' good in Philsports
And so, the San Antonio native felt good vibes upon returning to the same site where San Miguel planted the seed of a historic championship run.
“I had a feeling it’s going to be a good night,” said Ross.
“And then I made my first two shots, so I said, ‘Yeah, that’s going to be a good night.”
Ross hit back-to-back threes in the opening period to keep the Beermen within striking distance of the Tropang 5G before June Mar Fajardo, Cjay Perez, and Finals MVP Jericho Cruz took over the rest of the way to put the game away and win their 30th championship in franchise history.
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