NOW EVERYONE KNOWS WHO SMB TEAM LEADER REALLY IS
Talk about validation.
With San Miguel Beer seemingly beaten and fatigued after squandering a 23-point lead, Arwind Santos carried the fight late and drilled the biggest three-pointer of his 9-year PBA career.
In the 43.7 second-mark of the fourth quarter, Santos popped up and drilled the booming trey to push the Beermen ahead, 79-78 and followed it up with a big rebound off of a Sonny Thoss miss and a split from the line to preserve the 80-78 Game 7 victory and give San Miguel the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup title and the Commissioner Jun Bernardino Trophy.
The lanky Kapampangan tallied 22 points on 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc, grabbed 12 rebounds and had four blocks to finally answer questions on who really is SMB’s team leader. Santos’ heroics were enough for him to be named PBA Press Corps-Petron Sprint 4T Finals MVP.
But for Santos, it’s more of gaining back the trust of the Beermen faithful.
“Nakuha ulit namin yung tiwala ng mga fans ng San Miguel. Naibalik namin yung mga ngiti nila matapos ng ilang kapalpakan na nagawa namin,” he said.
Winning his first Philippine Cup title, Santos said that the triumph ushers in a new beginning for the Beermen, saying, “Special ‘to kasi parang bagong taon na naman.”
“Pagpunta pa lang namin dito, di kami makapagusap ng maayos. Sinabi ko sa mga kasama ko, kailangan matapos yung laro na mangawit tayo sa ngiti kasi tayo ang champion. Di yung mata natin ang namamaga,” he said. “Binigay namin yung lahat.”
Spiderman indeed came to the rescue. (RL)
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