SAN MIGUEL BEER CLAIMS PHILIPPINE CUP

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San Miguel Beer, with its two MVPs and all other great talents, ended up where it looked destined to from the beginning.

Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo combined for 43 points and 37 rebounds and personally outfought the gritty Alaska Aces in a nerve-wracking finish as the Beermen eked out an 80-78 victory to claim the PBA Philippine Cup crown before a cheering crowd of nearly 23,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

Santos lived through a hellish 47 minutes of action, doing it all at endgame to save the series the Beermen were favored to win.

The 2013 MVP awardee made the biggest three-pointer of his nine-year PBA career and the Beermen, who threw away three games on endgame collapses, wouldn’t let this one slip away, thus, whooping it up under a rain of balloons and confetti in the end.

With averages of 18.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals and being the biggest hero in Game Seven, Santos ran away with the Petron Sprint 4T Finals MVP award.

San Miguel ended a 14-year title drought in the league’s premier conference, nailing a fifth all-Filipino crown and 20th all in all.

But not after a real tough battle put up by the gritty Alaska side.

Coach Leo Austria, triumphant in his first conference as SMB coach, and the San Miguel management acknowledged the great performance of the Aces, who came to within a game of a championship only in their second conference under coach Alex Compton.

The Aces were actually in the fight till the end, vanishing into the air only after Jvee Casio missed a potential game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer.

“I have to give credit to Alaska and coach Alex for that big, big fight. We’re just fortunate we ended up the winner in the end,” said Austria, who has joined an elite roster of individuals who have won championships in the PBA first as a player and then as coach.

“There’s not a group I’d rather coach. I’m still proud of these guys,” said Compton.

In an epic series marked by wild momentum swings and great comebacks, the Beermen pulled through with their own fightback after squandering an early 23-point bulge.

They redeemed themselves after blowing away a 22-point spread in Game One, 21 in Game Three and 14 in Game Six.

Huffing, puffing and all with their long minutes, Santos, Fajardo and Chris Lutz came through at endgame and saved the championship for the Beermen.

Santos fired a trey with 43.7 seconds to go, highlighting San Miguel’s own rally from a five-point deficit in the last eight minutes.

He logged 22 points with five triples, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two assists while Fajardo piled up 25 rebounds and 21 markers – the first 20-20 game by any PBA local player in a Finals game. And Fajardo finally won a PBA crown in his third year in the league.

Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss put up a tremendous stand against Santos and Fajardo but missed crucial shots in the last 25 seconds.

The Aces were down by just a point, 78-79, when Thoss missed a post move against Fajardo.

Then after Santos made it a two-point lead on a split from the line, Abueva muffed a running looper and a follow-up.

The Aces had last chance to steal the game when they grabbed possession following a jump ball between Fajardo and Abueva with two seconds to go.

Alas, Casio failed to frustrate the Beermen. (SB)

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