San Miguel Beermen’s Jericho Cruz during the PBA Philippine CUp Finals Game 4 against TNT Tropang 5G. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—June Mar Fajardo bagged yet another Best Player of the Conference award, the sweetness of which was sealed through a lot of Jericho Cruz’s efforts in Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday night.
Cruz scored 23 points coming off the bench and helped the Beermen to a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series with TNT after a 105-91 win at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, where San Miguel practically ended all of the Tropang 5G’s hopes of completing just the league’s sixth Grand Slam.
HIGHLIGHTS: PBA Philippine Cup Finals Game 4 – San Miguel vs TNT
And another thing, Cruz’s heroics made it sure that Fajardo could celebrate his latest individual accolade.
Cruz said that the team’s motivation of late stems from their series-opening loss two Sundays ago.
“We had a chance to win that game, (only to lose) some points (to a controversial goal interference call),” Cruz said. “But that’s done. We’ve moved on from that.
READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel nears title, fends off TNT in Game 4
“Every game, we just have to play as if it’s our last,” added Cruz after 26 minutes of action in picking up the slack for Chris Ross, who was big in the previous two victories but who slowed down Sunday with seven points.
Coach Leo Austria, while giving Cruz his flowers, echoed his hard-nosed guard’s sentiments on that controversial game.
“It fueled our grit,” Austria said. “You saw it from these players and in their eyes.
“They want to win. We had a bad start but the bench stepped up a lot and provided a lot of energy,” he added.
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The Beermen now have three chances to wrap up the series, starting with Game 5 at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
