Beermen level series with TNT

San Miguel Beer made a killing from the inside and forced TNT to commit an atrocious number of turnovers in a 98-92 Game 2 victory to level the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Don Trollano took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the period as the Beermen pulled away for good to turn the best-of-seven series into a virtual race-to-three affair. Trollano shot 10-of-16 from the field and grabbed six boards as San Miguel bounced back from a controversial Game 1 loss last Sunday.

Game 3 is on Friday at the same Cubao venue.

June Mar Fajardo had 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Mo Tautuaa, whose late dunk in Game 1 was nullified in a controversial call by the league’s technical committee, had 16 markers for the Beermen, who scored 65 points in the paint.

TNT poured 35 points in a strong third-quarter storm to trim down a 12-point deficit to just one heading into the payoff period behind the trio of Calvin Oftana, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Jordan Heading. But the Tropang 5G’s third-quarter run came at a steep price after big man Poy Erram sprained his right ankle with 9:04 left and sat out the rest of the game.

The Beermen came out smoking in the first half, opting for high-percentage shots by aggressively attacking the basket despite zero connection from the outside after missing all of their five triples and four four-pointers. San Miguel erected its biggest lead at 13 before heading into the intermission on top, 51-39.

Jeron Teng fueled San Miguel’s breakout in the second quarter, scoring all of his 10 first-half points in the period on a perfect 3-of-3 field goal shooting in just seven minutes of action. The Beermen’s bench mob made a huge contribution in the first two quarters with 30 points compared to just 18 from their Tropang 5G counterpart.