The San Miguel Beermen stepped on the gas pedal and never let up this time to defeat the Meralco Bolts, 100-89, in Game Seven of the PBA Season 47 Philippine Cup semifinals on Wednesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The win by the Beermen stamped their ticket to the finals where they will take on the TNT Tropang Giga in a mega match-up between two of the most high-profile teams in the entire league. Game One of the high-stakes affair will be on Sunday.
This is also San Miguel's first finals appearance in the Philippine Cup since 2019.
Cebuano hoops star June Mar Fajardo played like a man amongst boys as he burned Meralco’s defense for 29 points and 14 rebounds. CJ Perez added 18 points, nine assists, and five steals in the do-or-die match.
San Miguel found their groove early and led by 20, 34-14, in the first half as their defense held Meralco to just 26% shooting from the field. The Bolts tried to make a game out of it by pulling to within 11, 70-81, behind an 11-0 run. However, the Beermen were not fazed, answering with a run of their own to bring their lead back up to 16, 93-77.
Cliff Hodge led the Bolts with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Chris Newsome added 14 points, five boards, and four dimes.