SAN Miguel got a measure of revenge on Wednesday, levelling up the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup Finals with a 98-92 victory over TNT in Game Two at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen tied the best-of-seven title series at 1-1 as they picked themselves up afer a controversial end to Game One, where a dunk by Mo Tautuaa was nullified after a review, leading to a stinging 99-96 loss.
READ Erram leaves Game Two with an ankle sprain
Don Trollano took over in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 22 points, while Chris Ross fueled San Miguel's defense that helped weather a TNT rally that saw the Tropang 5G cut deficit to one entering the final canto.
The Beermen will have a chance to claim the lead when it resumes on Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Ironically, it was Tautuaa who scored the final two points of the Beermen with a wide-open lay-up from a pass by Ross to finish the game - and there was no technical review to get in the way this time.
Tautuaa finished with 16 points to complement June Mar Fajardo, who had 17 points and nine rebounds in the Beermen's first win against the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G in three meetings in the all-Filipino conference.
Ross started the game and had three of his four steals in that telling fourth quarter where the Beermen went on a 12-3 blast to turn a 77-77 deadlock into an 89-80 ballgame. The SMB veteran also had seven points, four rebounds, and seven assists.
“We’ve been through adversity and we know what to do,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria, referring to how they were able to bounce back from that controversial Game One defeat.
The Beermen got a lot of support even from Jeron Teng, who had 10 of his points in the first half where they led, 51-39.
Calvin Oftana had 13 of his 23 points in the third quarter, where TNT outscored San Miguel, 35-24, but Trollano picked up the slack for SMB with 12 in the fourth period.
Jordan Heading had 15 points and Kelly Williams added 11 points and eight rebounds, but TNT lost Poy Erram for a big part of the second half due to an ankle sprain.
The scores:
San Miguel 98 – Trollano 22, Fajardo 17, Tautuaa 16, Teng 10, Perez 8, Ross 7, Cruz 6, Brondial 6, Tiongson 4, Lassiter 2.
TNT 92 – Oftana 23, Heading 15, Willams 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 10, Enciso 7, Erram 6, Pogoy 6, Khobuntin 6, Heruela 4, Aurin 4, Galinato 0, Varilla 0, Nieto 0.
Quarters: 23-19; 51-39; 75-74; 98-92.
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