San Miguel nearly lost a late eight-point cushion but staved off Talk 'n Text's late rally to win, 96-95, in Game 3 of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinals showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Beermen led, 91-83, with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter.
But Jay Washington sparked a 6-0 Tropang Texters run to cut the gap to two, 91-89, with 2:38 left.
After Junemar Fajardo split his charities, Matt Rosser coverted two of his own to draw Talk 'n Text closer, 91-92, with 1:55 remaining.
Arwind Santos then nailed a three-pointer to increase the lead to four, 95-91.
But Ranidel De Ocampo answered with a triple of his own to put the lead back to one, 95-94, with 1:10 to go.
San Miguel failed to convert on the next play as Alex Cabagnot lost the ball, and Talk 'n Text got a shot at taking the lead.
But Jayson Castro only made 1-of-2 from the line and the game was tied, 95-all, with 48.5 seconds left.
Cabagnot missed a jumper on the other end.
But Santos collected the offensive rebound and passed it back to Cabagnot, who got fouled by Rosser.
Cabagnot made a free throw to put the Beermen up, 96-95, with 9.2 seconds left.
De Ocampo misfired his potential game-winning shot, and Fajardo sealed the win by grabbing the rebound.
Santos had 23 points, while Fajardo added 18 and nine rebounds for San Miguel, which is now a win shy from possibly sweeping the semifinal series.
De Ocampo, on the other hand, led Talk 'n Text with 21.
Box Scores:
San Miguel 96-Santos 23, Fajardo 18, Lassiter 17, Maierhofer 10, Cabagnot 9, Lutz 8, Tubid 7, Ross 2, Kramer 2, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Fortuna 0, Semerad 0, Chua 0
Talk 'n Text 95-De Ocampo 21, Castro 15, Washington 12, Alapag 11, Ry. Reyes 10, Rosser 9, Carey 7, Fonacier 7, Aban 3, Alas 0, Ro. Reyes 0, Williams 0, Espiritu 0
Quarterscores: 26-28, 49-55, 75-76, 96-95
Cabagnot missed a jumper on the other end.
But Santos collected the offensive rebound and passed it back to Cabagnot, who got fouled by Rosser.
Cabagnot made a free throw to put the Beermen up, 96-95, with 9.2 seconds left.
De Ocampo misfired his potential game-winning shot, and Fajardo sealed the win by grabbing the rebound.
Santos had 23 points, while Fajardo added 18 and nine rebounds for San Miguel, which is now a win shy from possibly sweeping the semifinal series.
De Ocampo, on the other hand, led Talk 'n Text with 21.
Box Scores:
San Miguel 96-Santos 23, Fajardo 18, Lassiter 17, Maierhofer 10, Cabagnot 9, Lutz 8, Tubid 7, Ross 2, Kramer 2, Omolon 0, Pascual 0, Fortuna 0, Semerad 0, Chua 0
Talk 'n Text 95-De Ocampo 21, Castro 15, Washington 12, Alapag 11, Ry. Reyes 10, Rosser 9, Carey 7, Fonacier 7, Aban 3, Alas 0, Ro. Reyes 0, Williams 0, Espiritu 0
Quarterscores: 26-28, 49-55, 75-76, 96-95
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