San Miguel Beer flirted with disaster before weathering a late scare by TNT in a 91-89 escape for the solo top spot in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The game that the Beermen controlled for the majority of the match went down to one final possession that the defending champions survived when Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser's potential game-winning three-pointer bounced off the back of the rim for their second win in as many games.
San Miguel saw its 15-point lead dwindle in the second half and even went down to just one, 90-89, after Kelly Williams split his pressure-packed free throws with just 25 seconds remaining.
Jericho Cruz, who struggled from the field, also missed one of his two charities on the other end with 15 seconds left that gave the Tropang Giga one final try to force overtime or win it outright.
San Miguel's defense in the final play preserved the win as they denied Jayson Castro any clear path in the driving range while June Mar Fajardo covered Williams very well. Castro was forced to pass it to Ganuelas-Rosser after getting sandwiched by a double team.
"We executed well down the stretch but we just missed free throws if not the lead would've gone higher. It was our defense in the last stretch that made us win the game," San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent said.
"Even if Ganuelas had an open shot it was still challenged. I told them if we cannot score let's just make up with defense, that's what they did."
Fajardo provided a double-double off the bench with 15 points and 17 rebounds while Marcio Lassiter, Cruz and Don Trollano added 12 markers each for the Beermen.
San Miguel was lights out from the outside with 9-of-15 three-point shooting in the opening half with Simon Enciso hitting three straight. Terrence Romeo also shone in the first half scoring nine points but did not return due in the second half due to abdominal cramps.
TNT absorbed its second loss in four outings as the league heads to a long All-Star and Holy Week break.
Castro finished with 20 points, four rebounds and six assists, RR Pogoy had 15 markers while Williams and Calvin Oftana made 14 each for TNT.
Box scores:
SAN MIGUEL (91) — Fajardo 15, Lassiter 12, Trollano 12, Cruz 12, Romeo 9, Enciso 9, Perez 9, Ross 6, Teng 5, Tautuaa 2, Brondial 0
TNT (89) — Castro 20, Pogoy 15, Oftana 14, K.Williams 14, Aurin 10, Heruela 4, Ganuelas-Rosser B. 4, Ebona 4, Khobuntin 2, Ponferrada 2, Reyes 0, Varilla 0, Montalbo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser M. 0
Quarters: 25-23, 52-39, 72-70, 91-89