San Miguel pulled off a feat no team in all professional basketball leagues in the world has ever done, a comeback from a 0-3 finals series deficit.
As a saying goes, albeit grammatically wrong, "Comeback is real!"
The Beermen accomplished the historic rally with a 96-89 victory against the Alaska in the final game of the best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup championship series at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night, February 3, 2016.
San Miguel withstood an intriguing strategy by Alaska right at the opening tip-off and banked on a big game by Chris Ross to win its 22nd PBA title.
Coach Alex Compton called three timeouts just after his team won the tip-off, something that made the 23,616 people at the Mall of Asia Arena and even the televiewers confused.
The people became even more puzzled when the said move, which was supposed to get some of the Beermen out of focus early on, somewhat backfired when the Beermen opened an 18-8 lead.
The Aces, however, kept in pace and were within as close as three, early in the third quarter.
San Miguel then began pulling away, opening a 21-point cushion, 68-47, later in the third, and it appeared the team will get a smooth sailing.
But Compton's bizarre strategy began taking effect as Alaska launched a 23-7 run spanning the final two periods to cut the lead to five, 75-70, with a little over eight minutes left.
The Beermen, however, made a critical 7-2 run capped by two wide open layups by Chris Ross to stretch the lead to 12, 84-72, and withstood any more Alaska rally in the end.
Ross finished with a conference-high 21 points, making four of six triples, five rebounds, and five assists for San Miguel, and his stellar performance was enough for him to be named the Finals MVP.
Junemar Fajardo played his best game since injuring his left knee by contributing 21 points, 15 rebounds, one assist, and one block.
Chris Banchero led Alaska with 21 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Box Scores:
San Miguel 96-Ross 21, Fajardo 21, Lassiter 15, Santos 13, Cabagnot 8, De Ocampo 7, Tubid 7, Espinas 2, Lutz 2, Heruela 0
Alaska 89-Banchero 21, Abueva 16, Baguio 10, Casio 8, Exciminiano 8, Hontiveros 6, Jazul 4, Baclao 4, Manuel 3, Eman 0, Menk 0
Quarterscores: 22-16, 43-38, 68-51, 96-89
The Beermen accomplished the historic rally with a 96-89 victory against the Alaska in the final game of the best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup championship series at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night, February 3, 2016.
San Miguel withstood an intriguing strategy by Alaska right at the opening tip-off and banked on a big game by Chris Ross to win its 22nd PBA title.
Coach Alex Compton called three timeouts just after his team won the tip-off, something that made the 23,616 people at the Mall of Asia Arena and even the televiewers confused.
The people became even more puzzled when the said move, which was supposed to get some of the Beermen out of focus early on, somewhat backfired when the Beermen opened an 18-8 lead.
The Aces, however, kept in pace and were within as close as three, early in the third quarter.
San Miguel then began pulling away, opening a 21-point cushion, 68-47, later in the third, and it appeared the team will get a smooth sailing.
But Compton's bizarre strategy began taking effect as Alaska launched a 23-7 run spanning the final two periods to cut the lead to five, 75-70, with a little over eight minutes left.
The Beermen, however, made a critical 7-2 run capped by two wide open layups by Chris Ross to stretch the lead to 12, 84-72, and withstood any more Alaska rally in the end.
Ross finished with a conference-high 21 points, making four of six triples, five rebounds, and five assists for San Miguel, and his stellar performance was enough for him to be named the Finals MVP.
Junemar Fajardo played his best game since injuring his left knee by contributing 21 points, 15 rebounds, one assist, and one block.
Chris Banchero led Alaska with 21 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Box Scores:
San Miguel 96-Ross 21, Fajardo 21, Lassiter 15, Santos 13, Cabagnot 8, De Ocampo 7, Tubid 7, Espinas 2, Lutz 2, Heruela 0
Alaska 89-Banchero 21, Abueva 16, Baguio 10, Casio 8, Exciminiano 8, Hontiveros 6, Jazul 4, Baclao 4, Manuel 3, Eman 0, Menk 0
Quarterscores: 22-16, 43-38, 68-51, 96-89
Contributed by Ivan Saldajeno of Dugout.ph
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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