Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The San Miguel Beermen blasted the TNT KaTropa, 97-86, to level their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinal series, 2-2, on Tuesday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Chris Ross hit a career best 31 points, while JuneMar Fajardo added on 15 of his own.
A competitive opening period saw both sides blank each other out, with the KaTropa carrying a slim 19-18 advantage into the second period.
The Beermen finally kicked into gear in the second frame, going into the halftime behind a 13-5 run to close out the quarter, 44-32.
Nothing was stopping San Miguel, as they continued to rain fire on the KaTropa and touted a lead as much as 64-42 in the third frame.
TNT could only bring the Beermen’s lead down to 93-84 in the payoff period, as San Miguel leveled the series at 2 games apiece.
Larry Fonacier ended with 15 markers for TNT in the losing effort.
After the game San Miguel coach Leo Austria admitted that though Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot were typically the first options, he was happy with Ross’ hot shooting night.
“Nagulat ako and happy na pumapasok tira nya,” Austria admitted. “It turned out that he’s the best shooter tonight.”
Both teams will get a chance to pull ahead in the series in Game 5 on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
