Trollano to the rescue, helps Beermen make finals

Don Trollano is ready to take over for San Miguel Beer whenever the situation arises.

An additional weapon to complement the more established stars, Trollano stepped up big time to help the defending champions clinch a ticket in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals.

His pair of 20-point outings when San Miguel big guns were having an “off night” sparked the Beermen’s 4-0 sweep of Rain or Shine in the best-of-seven semifinals.

When the Elasto Painters held decorated center June Mar Fajardo to a “low” 11 points and 11 rebounds in Game 3, it was Trollano who carried the offense after going 9-of-15 from the floor to finish with 20 points as San Miguel climbed the hill with a 117-107 romp in Dasmariñas.

“Rain or Shine did a good job defending June Mar. For me, I’m just thinking that I need to step up. I guess I just found myself in a perfect place and perfect time,” the 32-year-old former Adamson standout said.

Trollano matched his Game 3 scoring output in the next match highlighted by nine straight points early in the fourth quarter that fueled the Beermen’s fiery comeback from 19-points down for the 107-100 clincher.

The 6-foot-3 Trollano dropped 13 points in the 32-13 closing barrage that enabled San Miguel to finish off Rain or Shine and get a shot at a title repeat in the centerpiece conference.

“I just want to be aggressive whenever, I’m inside the court,” he said.

Trollano averaged 20 points on 62 percent field goal shooting, 9.5 boards and 2.0 dimes per game was named as the PBA Press Corps-Pilipinas Live Player of the Week for the period 22 to 26 May.

Trollano was selected by the men and women covering the PBA beat as the week’s best over the likes of his more illustrious teammates, Fajardo himself and CJ Perez, and Barangay Ginebra workhorse Christian Standhardinger, who led the Gin Kings to a 3-2 lead against Meralco in their side of the Final Four.