GETTING little from its old ways, San Miguel Beer was forced to try new things and was handsomely rewarded as it defeated Barangay Ginebra 93-84 Wednesday night, Jan. 7, 2026, to level their PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jeron Teng emerged as the biggest surprise, scoring 13 points — all in the second half — to spark and fuel the Beermen’s rally after trailing by as much as 11 points in the first half.
“What happened in the fourth quarter was just pure guts for Jeron,” said SMB coach Leo Austria of the guard-forward who was not utilized in the opener of the best-of-seven semis which Ginebra won, 99-90, last Sunday.
“In the first game, I was not able to use him because of something in my mind,” added Austria. “I felt guilty about not using him in Game 1, so the next day in practice I told him: ‘Be ready.’”
Indeed, Teng proved he was ready. He entered the game at the 3:20 mark of the third period and stayed on until the end, scoring 11 of his points in the deciding period while adding five rebounds and three assists as SMB posted a lead that swelled to 91-79.
RJ Abarrientos and Stephen Holt finished with 18 points each, but Scottie Thompson was held down to just nine points after helping Ginebra get off to early leads of 25-14 and 39-28.
The defending champions refused to be denied this time as June Mar Fajardo led all scorers with 21 points and second straight 23 rebounds, while Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz combined for 23 points after scoring just nine in the opener.
TNT leads 2-0
After scraping by with a narrow win in Game 1, the TNT Tropang 5G came back sharper and more polished, delivering a masterclass wire-to-wire performance in the nightcap.
The Tropang 5G established an early double-digit spread and kept the Meralco Bolts on the trail in a dominant 109-92 victory to seize a 2-0 lead in their own best-of-seven semifinals.
Jordan Heading and Calvin Oftana combined for six three-pointers and 50 points as TNT carried over the momentum from its fierce second-half showing in Sunday’s 100-95 win, moving within two victories of returning to the all-Filipino finals.
The Tropa will try to make it three in a row in Game 3, also at the Big Dome on Friday. (PBA.PH)