CJ Perez stepped up for San Miguel Beer as they delivered a 95-89 victory over TNT in Game 3 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
Perez scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including his seven-point swing in the final 41.8 seconds of the game, as the Beermen now hold a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven championship series.
"I struggled in the first half, but the coaches' trust in me didn't go away. I just responded to what the coaches were giving me," Perez said.
Don Trollano scored 19 points off the bench for the Beermen while June Mar Fajardo had another double-double game of 16 points and 27 rebounds.
Calvin Oftana had 25 points for the Tropang 5G in a losing effort.
Game 4 will be on Wednesday at 7:35 p.m. at the same venue.