Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 25) — Advantage San Miguel.
The San Miguel Beermen took Game 3 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup finals series against the TNT KaTropa, 109-97, Sunday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
San Miguel guard Alex Cabagnot led all scorers with 28 points, while import Charles Rhodes registered a double-double with 25 markers and 20 rebounds.
After a dismal outing in Game 2, the TNT KaTropa came to Game 3 with tougher mentality. They even led 47-46 at the halftime break.
The emotions and physicality spilled over during the lull, with a scuffle between TNT and San Miguel personnel in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms.
No sanctions were meted out after the altercation.
The second half brought out a different beast in the Beermen as they stole the lead in the first possession of the third frame before pushing it to as much as 62-52 before the payoff period.
In the final quarter, the KaTropa had no answer for the Beermen as they cruised to take the lead in the championship series for the first time. RR Garcia paced TNT with 19 points in the loss.
After the game, San Miguel head coach Leo Austria was pleased with his team but reminded them that it is still a long series.
“It’s far from over,” Austria said. “We don’t have to celebrate this game because this win is nothing yet.”
“We need to prepare our thurd game, we have a commanding lead pag naging 3-1,” Austria said.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played on Wednesday at the Big Dome.
