Defending champion San Miguel Beer returned to the finals after banking on its composure and vast experience to erase a 19-point deficit in beating Rain or Shine, 107-100, in Game 4 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

CJ Perez and Don Trollano connived for the bulk of the scorching 16-2 run in the last five minutes of the ball game to complete a best-of-seven sweep of the Elasto Painters.       

The Beermen clawed their way out of a 54-73 hole with 7:22 left in the third as they outscored Rain or Shine, 32-13, in the final canto for their 11^th straight head-to-head win over a familiar victim since 2022.

“The players just did not quit. They really played well especially in the start of the fourth. They just want to end the series now that’s why they played really hard entering the fourth quarter,” San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent said.

The Beermen will await in the best-of-seven championship the survivor between Meralco and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the other semis pairing. They split their series, 2-2.

Perez scored 26 points on 10-of-20 field goal shooting while Trollano dropped 13 of his 20 markers in the fourth quarter and added eight rebounds.      

Bigman June Mar Fajardo cashed in 17 points, hauled down 23 boards with six assists, three blocks and two steals for the Beermen. Jericho Cruz and Terrence Romeo added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Rain or Shine held a 98-91 lead after Beau Belga drained a triple with 5:15 left before San Miguel charged back with six straight points capped by a Trollano back-to-back baskets.

Adrian Nocum answered with a jumper entering the three-minute mark but would be the Elasto Painters’ last basket of the all-Filipino conference as Perez sparked the finishing 10-0 blast.

Gian Mamuyac saw his 30-point effort go down the drain as Rain or Shine suffered a blanking in its first semis stint since 2019.

Nocum and Santi Santillan added 14 points each, Anton Asistio got 13 while Beau Belga had 12 markers, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Elasto Painters.

Box scores:

SAN MIGUEL (107) --- Perez 26, Trollano 20, Fajardo 17, Cruz 11, Romeo 10, Teng 8, Bronidial 6, Ross 5, Tautuaa 2, lassiter 2, Enciso 0

RAIN OR SHINE (100) –-- mamuyac 30, Santillan 14, Nocum 14, Asistio 13, Belga 12, Clarito 8, Caracut 3, Ildefonso 2, Norwood 2, Demusis 2, Datu 0

Quarters: 25-27, 41-55, 75-87, 107-100