The San Miguel Beermen took another major step on their redemption tour on Friday by getting back at the team that denied them a championship in last season’s PBA Philippine Cup.
But in the aftermath of a 108-97 win over the Meralco Bolts in quarterfinals on Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium, coach Leo Austria and Best Player of the Game Rodney Brondial would rather think of what’s next for them rather than feeling a sense of satisfaction of getting payback.
“What we were thinking was how to get into the semifinals, not because our opponent was Meralco,” Austria said after the Beermen became the first team to reach the Final Four of the centerpiece conference.
Brondial’s 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus Don Trollano sparking the early assault with 19 points off the bench provided cover for main men June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez as San Miguel progressed into the best-of-seven series against Barangay Ginebra or Converge.
Ginebra was carrying a twice-to-beat advantage when it trooped to the floor against Converge at press time. Game 1 of the semis will start on Wednesday.
“I guess the stars aligned for me tonight,” Brondial, a jokester, said in Filipino.
Of course, Fajardo shone with 23 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks while Juami Tiongson added 19 points for a San Miguel crew that’s just itching to reclaim the throne it has occupied for so long.
Chris Banchero dropped 32 points, but Meralco’s defense of its Cinderella title run came to an end with another quarterfinal exit, which was its ceiling in all three conferences of Season 49.
Meralco did try to mount a rally in the third, cutting San Miguel’s big lead down to two, 77-75. Brondial’s offensive rebound and putback, however, jumpstarted a Beermen response that the Bolts couldn’t counter.
The Bolts came to the contest fresh from their campaign in the Basketball Champions League Asia in Dubai where they were eliminated in the quarters by Mongolian champion Broncos.
Meanwhile, the other semis pairing will be decided on Saturday with do-or-die affairs at the same venue, beginning with TNT looking to keep its Grand Slam dreams against Magnolia at 5 p.m.
TNT stayed alive with a thrilling 89-88 win, and will look to stay in the hunt for the triple crown by cutting short Magnolia’s run that began with an impressive start in the eliminations.
Magnolia, which struggled late with three of its last four games including the first quarterfinal defeat, is keen on not letting its conference go to utter waste.
Rain or Shine and NLEX will also dispute the chance at facing either Magnolia at TNT in the other game at 7:30 p.m.
