 |
| Allein Maliksi stepped up for Meralco amid an explosion from June Mar Fajardo. Dennis Acosta |
QUEZON CITY--Even if June Mar Fajardo imposed his will inside, Meralco still did just enough to edge San Miguel for a 92-88 win in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Down 70-69 after the third quarter, the Bolts dominated most of the fourth quarter, holding the Beermen to just 10 points within the first nine and a half minutes of the period to go up, 90-80.
SMB tried to crawl back into the game, scoring eight straight points that cut the lead down to just two, 90-88, with 7.7 seconds to go.
However, Chris Newsome, who made up for a rough night in field goals with a superb free throw shooting, knocked down two charities with six seconds left that iced the game for Meralco.
Newsome and Allein Maliksi each scored 22 points for the Bolts, who are now one win away from their first PBA championship.
They can clinch the title in Game 6 on Father's Day.
Fajardo put up a monster game of 38 points on 14-of-17 shooting with 18 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks for the Beermen, who are now in a seemingly unfamiliar territory of being 3-2 down in the best-of-seven series.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
.jpg)
