San Miguel didn’t blow a big lead this time, it simply beat Alaska that played its best and moved within a breath of the PBA’s most prized title of the season.

With June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos showing why they are the MVPs of the last two seasons, the Beermen pounded out a 93-88 win over the Aces for a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven title showdown for the Philippine Cup before a boisterous throng at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The duo scored 19 points each, grabbed a total of 22 rebounds and have five swats apiece in a dominating effort on both ends that helped the Beermen fend off the hard-fighting Aces and move within another win of winning an all-Filipino crown for the first time since 2001.

Alaska kept the game close for a change and enjoyed a couple of seven-point leads in the first three periods only to be stifled in the endgame by the unforgiving San Miguel defense.

“I am very happy because it is really difficult to beat Alaska,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said after his Beermen won a second straight game in the series to take momentum into Game 6 Sunday night also at the historic Big Dome floor.

“(Again) we survived the pressure defense of Alaska,” Austria said. “We’ve played them so many times (in the conference) that I think my players have gotten used to it.

“We have been given the opportunity (to finish them off in Game 6), I just hope that we would be lucky enough to do so.”

It was up-and-down for both teams the entire night, with the Beermen moving ahead by seven, 89-82 with 3:08 left after a Fajardo jumper taken in front of the face of Sonny Thoss.

Alaska would come to within 86-89 after a Calvin Abueva layup, before Santos sealed the deal with 18.1 seconds left with two free throws off a Cyrus Baguio foul.

The game was undoubtedly the closest fought in the series thus far as Alaska got four players scoring in twin digits with Abueva leading the way with 24 that went with 12 rebounds.

But the Aces, who have won the previous two odd-numbered games before losing Game 5, simply could not buy a bucket when they needed to at the crunch, a tribute to how San Miguel effectively shut them down when it mattered most.

Marcio Lassiter was the third man in twin digits with 16 for Austria.

League records show that only 11 of 33 teams that have fallen 2-3 in a series this long have managed to turn things around, with Alaska owning three of those comebacks.

Interestingly, though, two of those magnificent Alaska comebacks have come at the expense of San Miguel Beer.

“We did good things pretty much for most of the game,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said in a sad tone.

“But like I have been saying before, they (San Miguel) are still Goliath and we hope to become David,” Compton went on. “I think if we play with that kind of intensity, we can give ourselves a chance (in Game 6).”

Alaska actually had the lead after the first quarter for just the second time in the series, and the half was tied for the first time in five games.

The third also had it even at 71 before rookie David Semerad scored five straight points to give the Beermen the lead they protected until the end.

Doug Kramer came off the bench and gave Fajardo valuable minutes on the bench, scoring nine points and holding his own against Thoss when he was on the floor.

Another thing that aided Alaska’s doom was JV Casio going scoreless for the second straight night.

The fleet-footed 5-foot-8 point guard failed to convert on eight attempts, but Compton was quick to quell all talk of an injury on his sentinel by saying: “JV will be fine.”

“There are some things in the team that is family business,” Compton said when pressed to state if Casio was being bothered by something. “I hope you guys (media) understand.”