San Miguel Beermen’s Jericho Cruz during Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against TNT Tropang 5G. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Despite San Miguel falling short in its first crack at completing the march to the PBA Philippine Cup crown, Jericho Cruz made sure to accept defeat and give TNT its plaudits.
“I’m not a sore loser,” Cruz said after the Beermen’s 86-78 defeat that extended the Finals series on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ: PBA Finals: Chris Ross, San Miguel unfazed as TNT extends series
Cruz’s comments seemed like a subtle dig at Tropang 5G team manager Jojo Lastimosa, who didn’t hide his displeasure toward the San Miguel wingman for what he felt were “showboating” moves during the final seconds of the Beermen’s Game 4 triumph.
Lastimosa was heavily booed by the San Miguel faithful, but the TNT official appeared to be unfazed, even laughing off the attention.
The Beermen, however, couldn’t close out the series as the Tropang 5G made sure they wouldn’t go down without a fight, leaning on the likes of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Kelly Williams and Almond Vosotros.
READ: PBA Finals: Walking wounded TNT guts out Game 5 win
“They deserved to win,” Cruz said in Filipino. “For us, we just have to move, get back to the drawing board and address the things that we need to fix.”
One thing Cruz pointed out was San Miguel’s lack of effort, something that TNT had for almost the entire contest when it led by 15 and 18.
While Marcio Lassiter caught fire for San Miguel, the likes of Don Trollano, CJ Perez and Mo Tautuaa were hardly a factor.
“Their effort was to the highest while we were like up-and-down, up-and-down,” said Cruz after finishing with 20, but made 19 in the second half when the Beermen played catch-up. “We need to play with a lot of effort going into Game 6.”
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San Miguel will have another chance to end TNT’s Grand Slam hopes on Friday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
