MANILA: San Miguel Beer didn’t need an extra five minutes in winning this one and setting itself up for a date with, as coach Leo Austria put it, “history.”

The Beermen destroyed Alaska in the first 5:30 of the fourth period on Friday night to post a 100-89 victory and, after being down 0-3 in the best-of-seven title series for the PBA Philippine Cup, forged a game for all the marbles where San Miguel can complete the most improbable comeback in league history.

“This is history in the making for us,” Austria told reporters.

Actually, the Beermen already wrote a piece of history by becoming the first team to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games.

“We have achieved nothing yet, let me tell you that,” he said as he now guards his wards against complacency. “We just tied this series. There is still a game to be played.”

San Miguel dropped a crippling 17-3 bomb to open up the fourth quarter and left the Aces eating its dust, turning a 67-66 lead at the start of the period into an imposing 84-69 lead Alaska was never able to put a dent on the rest of the way.

Marcio Lassiter was spectacular, to say the least, draining two straight triples at the height of that run to finish with 17 for the quarter, a point more than what San Miguel tallied in the third period.

The 6-foot-4 swingman wound up with 26 points, while June Mar Fajardo, in just his second game back from a twisted left knee, had 16 points and seven rebounds in 22 total minutes coming off the bench.

Another big performer for the Beermen was Arwind Santos, who had 10 points and 15 boards with Yancy de Ocampo shooting 12 of his 14 in the first half and Alex Cabagnot winding up with 10 points.

“I’d like to credit the players, they played with the experience they gained (from winning two championships) last season,” Austria said. “They know how to win. I am very happy for them.”

Alaska, which was also on the losing end of those two San Miguel championships last season, couldn’t recover from that drought in the fourth period and lost a third straight game.

“Now I think the pressure is really on,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said.

“We were beaten fair and square,” he added, ever the gentleman. “It was a great job by coach Leo and the San Miguel team. They just exploded in the fourth period.”

Vic Manuel had 21 points and Calvin Abueva 17 and the duo, the most undersized power forward in the league, combined for 18 rebounds. But their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Beermen from running away with this one.

Game 7 will be on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, and if San Miguel wins, the Beermen will also put themselves in the history of professional sports in the world.

Austria, who appeared for the interview together with Santos and Fajardo, acknowledged that they have momentum for Game 7.

“We have momentum, but Game 7 is winner-take-all and all stats in the first six games are for nothing,” he said. “I’m sure they (Alaska coaching staff) will devise other ways to try and control us.”

“We will give it our all,” Fajardo said in Filipino. And when asked how he sizes himself up, percentage-wise, because of the coming four-day break: “It doesn’t matter what percentage (of health) I will be in (for Game 7).

“I will lay it all down on the floor (on Wednesday) because that’s the last game,” the 6-foot-10 behemoth said. “Besides, we can rest the following day, I suppose.”