It’s payback time for San Miguel Beer.
The Beermen exacted revenge against Barangay Ginebra, the same team that swept them in three games of their Governors’ Cup semis series last season.
But on Sunday, it’s the Beermen’s turn to bring out the broom as they scored a 94-91 win in Game 3 and completed a sweep of their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinals series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
By sweeping Ginebra, San Miguel will march on to the finals and will be given an opportunity to rest and prepare against the victor of the Magnolia-Phoenix Super LPG series.
Earlier, Phoenix turned back Magnolia, 103-85, as the Fuel Masters fought back from 21 points down early in the second period before completing a come-from-behind victory.
Phoenix’s win stretched the series to a Game 4 and the Fuel Masters will have an opportunity to equalize with a win on Wednesday and send the series to a winner-take-all showdown.
But unlike Magnolia, San Miguel is in no mood to give Ginebra a new lease in life even in the midst of the Gin Kings’ repeated uprisings.
Instead, the Beermen showed their endgame poise, which has been the biggest weapon of the squad all tournament long.
“The players were very composed, especially in the endgame,” San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent said.
“I guess that’s the attitude we’ve shown throughout the tournament.”
Despite getting a quiet production from seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and missing the services of Terrence Romeo, who was sidelined by a left sprained ankle, the Beermen had enough firepower to thwart the Kings.
One of those who stepped up big was Jericho Cruz, who finally got his rhythm back.
Hardly a factor in the first two games of the series, Cruz responded with a big game in the close-out match.
He finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.
“I just wanted to thank Coach Jorge for keeping his trust in me. I know I struggled in the first two games, but he never lost faith in me,” Cruz said.
As expected, Bennie Boatwright paced the Beermen with 26 points while Marcio Lassiter, quiet in the first two quarters, came alive in the second half and poured in 14 points.
Fajardo came away with a double-double performance of 11 points and 10 rebounds while CJ Perez contributed 11 markers.
