Andrew Nicholson. PBA . IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—The Bay Area away team set up a hot title match against Barangay Ginebra after surviving San Miguel Beer, 94-92, to advance to Wednesday’s PBA Member’s Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
This time, the Dragons prevented the Beermen from making a run when CJ Perez missed the third goal and June Mar Fajardo thwarted a close-range effort that could have forced overtime before running out. time.
The Bay Area dominated for four games, becoming the fourth away team in PBA history to make it to the grandest stage.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a series like that. Three of the four games were in the last second, it was unbelievable,” said Dragons coach Brian Goorjian, who won the first two games, including a tight comeback. star in the opener, before being denied a clean sweep in Game 3.
The finale kicks off on Christmas Day at the same venue, with the Bay Area aiming to balance the feat of coach Ron Jacobs’ North Consolidation, the last guest to win the title in the Augmented Conference. in 1985.
Nicholson finished with 42 points and 21 rebounds in another strong performance after replacing the injured Myles Powell at the start of the knockout round.
Kobey Lam, a semi-final revealer, scored 26 points as the Dragons were able to fend off the Beermen plots in a tight second half.
Perez brought San Miguel 28 points, but a hectic mid-season conference campaign came to an end.
San Miguel was forced to replace imported Diamond Stone with Devon Scott while coach Leo Austria was sidelined for seven games, leaving assistant Jorge Gallent to lead the team back from a 3–5 record to reach the semi-finals.
Scores:
WINDOWS 94 — Nicholson 42, Lam 26, Blankley 12, Zhu 7, Yang 3, Ju 2, Song 2, Liu 0, Reid 0.
SAN MIGUEL 92 — Perez 28, Scott 25, Lassiter 14, Fajardo 9, Enciso 5, Cruz 4, Brondial 4, Romeo 3, Ross 0, Manuel 0.
Rounds: 17-16, 46-38, 69-72, 94-92.
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