#PBA2015 Philippine Cup Finals Roundup: January 14, 2015

The San Miguel Beermen finally uncorked a statement game in the 2014-2015 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, clocking the Alska Aces in a virtual must-win Game 4 to square the series again.

Alex Cabagnot finally impressed, dropping 22 points in Game 4 of the Finals.
(image by Nuki Sabio/PBA)

Game recap (adapted from InterAKTV):

SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN over ALASKA ACES, 88-70
Box Scores.
San Miguel got a big lift from point guard Alex Cabagnot in a big Game Four effort as the Beermen defeated Alaska, 88-70, to level the PBA Philippine Cup finals series at two games apiece on Wednesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Cabagnot made his first appearance in the San Miguel starting lineup for the series and proved his coach, Leo Austria, right as he scored a game-high 22 points, including four three-pointers.

The star guard, who finished fifth in the Best Player of the Conference race, was averaging just 6.7 points in the series prior to this game.

Ronald Tubid came up big with 13 points off the bench, nine of those in the third quarter, while San Miguel’s starters all proved steady in the game as well.

Arwind Santos finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds while newly-crowned Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter also had double-figures in scoring.

A basket from Doug Kramer in the third quarter gave the Beermen their highest lead of the game at 29 points, 55-26.

The Aces tried to make a dent in the lead late in the period, coming back to 22 after a strong finish from Abueva and a three from Dondon Hontiveros.

Alaska looked like it would be on the verge of another comeback after going on a 7-0 charge in a chippy start to the fourth.

The run included a free throw from Hontiveros off a technical foul on Santos for an elbow to Abueva as their personal duel remained heated.

Unlike in the previous games, though, San Miguel came up with some big shots to counter Alaska in this one.

Lutz snapped the Alaska run with a jumper and Cabagnot answered a Hontiveros lay-up with a couple of free throws to stem the tide.

Abueva would score with a nice move in the post but Santos then connected on a big three-pointer near the six-minute mark to push the Beermen’s lead back up to the 20s, shutting the door on the Aces’ comeback hopes.

Line of the Game: Calvin Abueva - 22pts, 7rebs, 1stl, 2blks.