PBA Philippine Cup finals heads to Game 7 after San Miguel rout of Magnolia

The PBA Philippine Cup finals goes to a Game 7.

San Miguel remained in contention for a five-peat in the conference after defeating Magnolia, 98-86, last May 12 in Game 6 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen won in wire-to-wire fashion as they won Game 6 after leading by as many as 22 points in the contest. June Mar Fajardo had 23 points and 18 rebounds, but he was not alone in converting the big shots for San Miguel.

Marcio Lassiter, who struggled in the early goings of the series, contributed 20 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 7 of 14 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range. Chris Ross had 17 points in Game 6 and was a perfect 5 of 5 from threes in the first half.

So the series heads to a Game 7 where San Miguel and Magnolia will once again square off on May 15 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

“Nagpapasalamat kami sa Panginoon na naitabla namin ang serye. I think what happened in the game is we played good defense because of our second group. Nahawa na lahat. You can see from the players na they don’t want to lose. We now have a good chance to grab it again,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 98 – Fajardo 23, Lassiter 20, Ross 17, Standhardinger 16, Romeo 9, Santos 8, Cabagnot 3, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Pessumal 0.

MAGNOLIA 86 – Jalalon 17, Sangalang 14, Reavis 13, Brondial 12, Lee 10, Barroca 6, Herndon 5, Dela Rosa 5, Melton 4, Simon 0, Pascual 0.

Quarterscores: 25-12, 50-36, 68-62, 98-86.

PHOTO: PBA Images