MANILA, 18 June 2007 — Facing elimination for the fourth straight time, San Miguel completed the improbable against a team that has made comebacks its way of life.
The Beermen erased a 16-point fourth quarter deficit last night and nipped Barangay Ginebra, 117-114 in overtime, to also complete their storied comeback in the PBA Fiesta Cup by advancing to the semifinals at the Araneta Coliseum.
Christian Calaguio hit nine of his 19 points in extra time, and Wesley Gonzales was chiefly responsible in bringing the Beermen back from an 83-99 deficit with 6:26 left in the fourth period.
Gonzales, who showed up with a big plaster in the forehead, which was busted in a Game 2 win, scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth, all of them coming when most had written San Miguel off.
“That was a heck of a game,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen. “This is special. I take none of the credit for it because the players simply refused to lose.”
San Miguel advanced to face Alaska in a best-of-seven semifinal series that starts on Wednesday. It looked like it would be a stroll for the Gin Kings after they had erected that 16-point bubble.
But instead of folding up, the Beermen dug deep in their reserves and pulled this one out, which could stand as a little vindication after they had lost in the Philippine Cup Finals to the Kings earlier in the year.
And it was the culmination of a long uphill battle, after the Beermen had started out with a franchise-worst 0-6 record, fall into the wildcard phase and rally from four points down in the final 13.3 opposite the Coca-Cola Tigers to earn a shot at the Kings.
“I don’t expect anything easy,” import Galen Young, who finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, told Arab News. “We fought it out all the way.”
Young touched off the comeback by completing a three-point play before Calaguio hit a triple and Gonzales two straight treys that put the Beermen back in the hunt, 95-99, entering the final 3:20 of the fourth period.
Gonzales then had two more layups in a 23-second span from 1:46 that tied things up at 104. Johnny Abarrientos missed winning the game for the Kings in regulation when his 15-foot jumper at the buzzer was way short.
It was Calaguio’s turn to shine in overtime, as he got the ball rolling with a triple from right quartercourt before capping his heroics with another with 41.3 seconds left that shattered a 111 tie. Talk ‘N Text, meanwhile, advanced to the semifinals in its own exciting way - after the Phone Pals saved themselves from a foldup like Ginebra’s.
The Phone Pals almost blew a 21-point lead with 7:41 left in the final period before subduing the game Air21 Express, 114-112, for a similar 2-1 victory in their own quarterfinal duel.
Mac Cardona and JJ Sullinger nailed key baskets in the stretch, propping up the Phone Pals just when they were about to hit the wall, before watching Jimwell Torion throw away possession in what would have been the game-tying play for Air21.
“We lost our focus when we had that lead,” explained coach Derrick Pumaren. “The boys had an early celebration, thought the game was over and just stopped playing out there.”
The Phone Pals zoomed ahead, 101-80 after an Egay Billones jumper. And it looked like it would be a breeze the rest of the way for them until the Express, who have made a living coming back from huge deficits, got their acts going. Despite the scare, the Phone Pals marched to a best-of-seven series opposite defending champion Red Bull, the elimination round topnotcher, starting Wednesday also at the Araneta Coliseum.
Air21 won the series-opener, 121-102 after outscoring the Phone Pals by 17 points in the third period. It was much of the same story that the Express tried to write last night, or until the Phone Pals hung tough, thanks to Cardona and Sullinger.
“I kept reminding the boys (when Talk ‘N Text was losing that lead) that Air21 is a team very capable of coming back,” Pumaren added. “It’s a good thing that we were able to recover, regain some of our composure.”
Cardona, who finished with a career-high 31 points, first completed a three-point play off Mark Telan before Sullinger hit a triple with the shot clock about to expire.
Those plays were clutch, with the Cardona caper giving the Phone Pals a 109-104 lead with 1:19 left. Sullinger’s triple, on the other hand, made it 112-108 with 31 ticks left.
