Don’t count out defending champion San Miguel Beer just yet.
The Beermen had no plans of assuming the role of punching bags against visiting team Bay Area as the winningest team in the Philippine Basketball Association salvaged a tough 98-96 win in Game 3 of their Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal series Sunday at the Philsports Arena.
Simon Enciso knocked in the go-ahead three-pointer in the last 12 seconds of the game then import Devon Scott came up with two big stops that prevented Bay Area’s outright finals entry and averted a sweep of the series.
San Miguel’s win was a fitting payback from its loss in the series opener when the Beermen led for 44 minutes before running out of steam in the endgame and allowed Bay Area to take control.
This time, with their backs against the wall, the Beermen showed their resolve and fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first half.
“It’s do-or-die for us, so everybody needs to step up,” said six-time league Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, who had another solid game.
The 6-foot-10 Fajardo was able to hold his own against Nicholson and 7-foot-5 center Liu Chuanxing.
Fajardo wound up with 21 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.
But Fajardo got plenty of help this time from their reinforcement, Scott, who stormed back from his subpar showing in Game 2, and knocked in 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.
Then, of course, there’s Enciso, who added 16 markers on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, including that game-winning triple that kept the Beermen breathing in the series and trimmed the series deficit to 2-1.
