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| Arwind Santos and the San Miguel Beermen dropped the hammer on TNT in Game 6 of the 2017 Commissioner's Cup Finals to win a 24th PBA championship. |
It appears that there's no end in sight yet for this current San Miguel dynasty.
The Beermen won their second straight championship this season, vanquishing the TNT KaTropa, 115-91, in Game 6 of the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals Sunday at the Big Dome.
Dominating the clincher, the 4-2 series win marked San Miguel's first title in this tournament since 2000. The Beermen also remain on track for a Grand Slam after previously capturing the Philippine Cup last March.
With their conference on the line, the KaTropa played the Beermen tough to start Game 6, however, an incident involving the Semerad twins doomed TNT, turning the momentum in favoor of San Miguel.
After TNT's Anthony and San Miguel's David got entangled on a play near the halfway point of the first quarter, a mini commotion sparked anew causing officials to hand out 11 technical fouls, six for the KaTropa and five for the Beermen.
TNT was still leading at that time but once the dust settled after all the technical fouls, San Miguel went on a game-changing run that practically won the title.
The Beermen opened up a double-digit lead to finish the opening quarter and then dropped the hammer in the second to take a commanding 20-point lead at the break, 62-42.
TNT went on a 9-0 run to get to within 12, 55-68, early in the second half but Marcio Lassiter came through for the Beermen, scoring 14 points in the third period alone to keep San Miguel's imposing advantage.
San Miguel was on cruise control in the fourth as the team won its 24th PBA title, most in league history.
"I would like to congratulate coach Nash Racela and the entire TNT organization for bringing out the best in us," winning head coach Leo Austria said, making sure to give props to the team that gave them problems all series long.
"Both of us deserved to win the championship but we're really fortunate because my players really wanted to win. This is the cup that we didn't win in the last 17 years and they have something in their minds that's why this game is really fantastic for them," he added.
Import Charles Rhodes, who won his first-ever pro title, led the Beermen with 30 points, 14 in the first, on top of 11 rebounds. Marcio Lassiter added 24 while Arwind Santos was good for 17 points off the bench.
Finals MVP Alex Cabagnot became the first local player in 12 years to post a triple-double in the Finals, going for 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Troy Rosario was the high man for TNT, finishing with 21 points while rookie RR Pogoy dropped 16. Joshua Smith scored 15 for the KaTropa and Jayson Castro added 13.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 115 - Rhodes 30, Lassiter 24, Cabagnot 19, Santos 17, Ross 14, Espinas 5, Semerad 4, Fajardo 2, De Ocampo 0, Heruela 0, McCarthy 0, Van Opstal 0, Agovida. 0,
TNT 91 - Rosario 21, Pogoy 16, Smith 15, Castro 13, De Ocampo 7, Garcia 7, Williams 4, Tautuaa 4, Rosales 2, Semerad 2, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 37-26, 62-42, 94-69, 115-91.
Source: ABS-CBN
