AFTER losing two straight in a Big Dance duel that is fast turning out to be a veritable chess match, the other key pieces of San Miguel Beer coach Jorge Gallent proved to be the big difference against gritty Magnolia last night.
Getting their mojo back, the Beermen tripped the Hotshots 108-98 in the pivotal Game 5 of their best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jericho Cruz boomed in a backbreaking three-pointer off Magnolia star Paul Lee from the deep right corner that gave SMB a 102-96 cushion with 51.9 seconds to go and shook the hand of SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua who sat at courtside.
Cruz’s clutch triple thwarted the Hotshots’ furious fightback from 90-99 in the endgame behind Ian Sangalang and import Tyler Bey.
Bey canned two free throws in the ensuing play that made it 98-102 but Beermen reinforcement Bennie Boatwright answered with two freebies before newly minted Best Player of the Conference CJ Perez sealed the victory with a breakaway slam dunk, only 20.1 ticks left.
Gallent praised his charges for showing poise when it mattered most.
“We were just composed in the last minutes of the fourth quarter. When they (Hotshots) made a run, we were just there. We made certain mistakes, but we just made up for those,” Gallent said.
“We forgot about those mistakes and thought of the next plays which the players did,” he added.
Cruz scattered 30 points, to go with eight rebounds, and four assists for SMB, while Boatwright chipped in 21 markers, six boards, and four dimes.
Reigning seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo played through a calf injury and had 18 and 15 for the Beermen.
Backup guard Simon Enciso, who was previously scoreless in the first four games of the race-to-4 series, provided a big boost with 15 points, five caroms, and three feeds, while Don Trollano also added 10 markers for SMB.
The triumph atoned for the Beermen’s 85-96 defeat to Magnolia in the fourth tiff three nights back.
More importantly, SMB grabbed a 3-2 edge and will try to finish off the Hotshots in Game 6 on Valentine’s Day this Wednesday at the same venue.
A deciding seventh clash, if necessary, will be played this Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Beermen took a 48-41 lead at the break that they padded to 76-68 going into the final stanza.
An Enciso trey gave SMB its biggest advantage 91-77 with 6:55 to go.
Bey paced Magnolia with 34 points and eight rebounds, while Jio Jalalon added 17 markers.
Sangalang and Paul Lee also got 15 and 12 markers, respectively for the Hotshots.
