Meralco vs San Miguel

June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez joined hands in powering the San Miguel Beermen to the last stage of the Philippine Cup.

Their foes in that series, coincidentally, will be their opponents in the title bout this time as they will take on corporate rivals and reigning champs TNT. June Mar Fajardo finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds to lead SMB, who’s returning to the Finals for the first time since the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup that was also the last time that the proud ball club won a title. San Miguel made sure that there won’t be any mismanagement like the last time out as it took care of business against Meralco, 100-89, to reach the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Wednesday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The top seeds will take on the defending champions in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup finals after San Miguel Beermen set up a showdown with TNT Tropang Giga.

"This is the time to develop the character of the other players. They don't know yet how to win a championship." In their lone elimination round meeting on July 7, the Beermen came out on top, 115-99, with Cruz dropping a career-high 30 points. "We haven't reached the finals in a long time," Fajardo noted. But we know we can do it." "But the game plan of Pops (Austria) was better. "That's why they're on our team, because we believe in them." Fajardo finished the with a series-high 29 points to go along with 14 rebounds. "One of the Bolts' strengths is getting offensive rebounds," Austria noted. But this time, the Beermen didn't wilt. But we still gave the ball to June Mar. Only a 35-point fourth quarter from the Bolts made their final point total more respectable.

After a hot start saw the Beermen in charge from the get-go, they needed to avoid letting the Bolts back into the contest in varying points of the game.

By Ivan Saldajeno. QUEZON CITY--It's going to be TNT and San Miguel in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. The Beermen clinched the other spot in the ...

June Mar Fajardo eventually shut the door on them as he converted a dagger layup amid the pressure to up the lead back to 11, 98-87, with 35 seconds to go. They would extend the lead to as high as 23 points, 70-47, late in the third quarter. The Beermen banked on their solid defense in the first half, holding the Bolts to just 31 points, 12 in the first quarter, and opening a 14-point cushion.

San Miguel booked the last 2022 PBA Philippine Cup finals ticket after it evaded a late rampage from Meralco en route to eking out a 100-89 victory in the ...

Meralco then tried to build on that energy after igniting in the fourth quarter with Cliff Hodge, Aaron Black, and Raymond Almazan helping them erase a huge deficit to just 10, 74-84, with 5:20 left. But SMB knew what was at stake in the game, stopping Meralco's momentum just in time to end the halftime carrying a 45-31 advantage with Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo showing the way. With the hard-earned win, SMB will make its return to the championship round after missing out in the last two editions and earned the right to face TNT in the best-of-seven finals.

June Mar Fajardo and San Miguel get a crack at winning another championship in the PBA Philippine Cup, the conference they ruled a record six straight ...

“We just need to follow the game plan. “We all know how hard it is to win a championship. “We just need to help each other and play as a team,” said Fajardo.

The top seeds will take on the defending champions in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup finals after San Miguel Beermen set up a showdown with TNT Tropang Giga.

"This is the time to develop the character of the other players. They don't know yet how to win a championship." In their lone elimination round meeting on July 7, the Beermen came out on top, 115-99, with Cruz dropping a career-high 30 points. "We haven't reached the finals in a long time," Fajardo noted. But we know we can do it." "But the game plan of Pops (Austria) was better. "That's why they're on our team, because we believe in them." Fajardo finished the with a series-high 29 points to go along with 14 rebounds. "One of the Bolts' strengths is getting offensive rebounds," Austria noted. But this time, the Beermen didn't wilt. But we still gave the ball to June Mar. Only a 35-point fourth quarter from the Bolts made their final point total more respectable.

The win sent the Beermen to the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals opposite defending champion TNT. The 6-foot-10 slotman capped his big game with a solid ...

San Miguel will be playing in the all-Filipino finals for the 12th time and the 43rd championship round entry in franchise history. We missed the finals for four conferences. Marcio Lassiter contributed 16 markers, Vic Manuel added 13 points and Jericho Cruz chipped in 12 for the Beermen, who hit 54% from the field as a team.

June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, and Marcio Lassiter star as San Miguel redeems itself from its Game 6 collapse and topples Meralco to end a three-year finals ...

Chris Newsome backstopped Hodge in scoring with 14 points on top of 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals as Aaron Black put up 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the loss. “This series gave us some character. This time, the Beermen rode on a blazing 20-6 start behind the early explosion of Marcio Lassiter and never looked back, with its lead swelling to as big as 23 points in the fourth quarter.