THE PBA Philippine Cup semifinal encounter between the defending champions San Miguel Beermen and TNT KaTropa comes down to a winner-take-all as the two teams battle it out in Game Seven today.
Happening at the Mall of Asia Arena at 7 p.m., the Beermen and KaTropa try to outdo each other for the right to take one of finals spot in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament.
The rubber match was forged after San Miguel staved off elimination with a 104-88 win in Game Six of their best-of-seven series last Saturday.
The Beermen used a surge in play in the second half to rally back from a so-so start en route to the big victory.
June Mar Fajardo had “Kraken-like” numbers of 23 points and 21 rebounds to go along with four blocks in the win that also saw Arwind Santos finish with a near double-double of 21 points and nine rebounds.
Alex Cabagnot had 19 points and seven assists while Chris Ross had 14 markers and five dimes.
“Everybody in the team showed great resolve to win Game Six. We had a subpar performance in the first half but in the second half we came out with better energy and play and hopefully it continues in the next game,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria after their Game Six win.
Had some of the momentum taken away from them in the loss, the KaTropa, for their part, are still bent on making full use of the chance they still have.
Coach Nash Racela they will regroup and make the necessary adjustments and go for the win in the winner-take-all.
In their Game Six loss, wherein they missed the services of forward Troy Rosario who got married, Jayson Castro was the top man with 19 points and five assists. The latter though got hurt in the latter part of the match and his status is still being evaluated as of this writing.
RR Pogoy and Larry Fonacier had 12 points apiece for TNT, which never really got its offense going much in the second half.
San Miguel with the win enters the finals of the Philippine Cup and gets a chance to win its third straight All-Filipino crown and get the Perpetual Trophy that interestingly TNT holds.
TNT, meanwhile, looks to barge into the PBA finals for the first time in nearly two years with a victory today.
The winner of the San Miguel-TNT semifinal series faces the victor between the Star Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
The two teams were scheduled to face last night in Game Six of their own series with Star holding a 3-2 lead entering the game.