San Miguel vs Meralco

Aaron Black erupts for 11 points in the last two minutes as Meralco overhauls a double-digit deficit to tie its semifinals series against San Miguel at 3-3.

Marcio Lassiter set the tone for the Beermen with 12 points in the opening quarter, but he struggled to make an impact the rest of the way as he finished with 14 points and 3 rebounds. Vic Manuel finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Perez had 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals in the loss. June Mar Fajardo put the Beermen on his back with 23 points and 13 rebounds, but their inability to protect leads doomed their chances of advancing to the finals for the first time in three years.

A stunning late surge by Meralco Bolts -- led by Aaron Black -- has forced Game 7 against San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

"I think we've only been this close to making the finals of the All-Filipino one time before this when we lost to Ginebra at the buzzer, when Scottie Thompson hit a three-point shot. We also have to make adjustments and not react to them anymore because this is the last game. So we just didn't want to get distracted, we just wanted to stay focused because this was a knockout game for us." "So every time we would get close it would seem like they would something and pull away from us. Every time the Bolts would make a run, the Beermen would pull away again. And we just had to keep playing and keep playing. "We were down by 11 but we felt we were right there even though it was a big margin. "And that's basically what carried us back into the game. "And on defense, we got stops as a team. His career has been on an upward path the last couple of years." "I'm happy that he took over the game today," Norman Black said. It was their first lead of the game.

The Meralco Bolts lived to fight another day as Aaron Black took Game 6 in his hands.

Three more bonus shots from Black dealt Beermen the loss. The Beermen flexed muscle early to draw a separation against Meralco at the start of the second period as they dropped a 9-0 run, capped by a layup from Tautuaa, 42-26. Chris Banchero equalized the match to begin the payoff period with a trey, 74-all.