Cabagnot’s heroics lift SMB past TNT for 9th straight win
ANTIPOLO — San Miguel Beer uncorked an 8-0 closing run in the last 1:26 of play and salvaged a 98-94 win over TNT KaTropa that derailed the Texters’ twice-to-beat aspiration in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Center here Saturday night.
June Mar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos combined for that endgame spurt lifting the Beermen past the Texters for a breakaway 10-1 closing card in the elims.
Cabagnot, a smart guard with a knack at draining game-winning shots, was at it again, rifling in a dagger trey that made it 97-94 with 26.7 ticks to go.
After Larry Fonacier misfired a game-tying attempt, Santos canned in a charity and the Beermen stretched their amazing streak to nine games after their lone loss at the hands of the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
The reigning back-to-back all-Filipino champs, as the playoff top seeds, will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage versus the eighth seed in the quarterfinals.
The Texters blew a 15-point turnaround from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter and closed out their elims stint with a 6-5 slate. They may be relegated to the best-of-three quarterfinals with that record.
TNT led by four at 94-90 but went scoreless in the last 2:46 of play in a foldup that stymied its bid for a No. 2 finish behind SMB.
Trailing by nine, 67-76, at the start of the final quarter, the Texters surged ahead, 83-80, on a hot 16-4 attack highlighted by four straight treys by Larry Fonacier and Kris Rosales.
The Texters, however, floundered from long range at the finish, allowing the Beermen to salvage the game.
Back-to-back short stabs by Fajardo on dish-offs by Cabagnot and Chris Ross had the Beermen tying the count at 94-all with 56.3 ticks to go.
Then Kelly Williams was called for a travelling violation, hastening the TNT downfall.
From a timeout, the Beermen worked on a play that had Cabagnot firing a trey to shatter the deadlock with 26.7 seconds to go. TNT failed to recover from there.
Santos rifled in 14 points, Marcio Lassiter fired 13 while Cabagnot had nine on 3-of-4 three-point shooting as San Miguel led by 10 before settling for a 53-50 margin at the half.
No TNT player made a double-digit output in the opening half.
Fajardo finished with 22 rebounds and 20 points while Cabagnot and Santos contributed 19 and 18 markers, respectively.
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