The San Miguel Beermen withstood a monster game from Ricardo Ratliffe to escape with a 77-76 win against the Star Hotshots and tie their best-of-five Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals series at 1-all on Monday at Mall of Asia Arena.
San Miguel reinforcement Charles Rhodes scored 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Beermen weathered Ratliffe’s impressive statline of 35 boards and 25 markers.
The Beermen, who zoomed to a 16-6 lead to start the game, led by as many as 16 points, 46-30, at the 10:55 mark of the third quarter of the low-scoring affair.
But the Hotshots handcuffed San Miguel, outscoring the Beermen, 30-12, for the remainder of the quarter behind Ratliffe to snatch a 60-58 lead entering the final canto.
Back-to-back baskets by Rhodes helped San Miguel gain a breathing room in the tightly contested fourth frame. Arwind Santos then fired a triple–his only basket of the game–to give San Miguel a 77-74 lead with 3:47 remaining.
Mark Barroca made huge plays in crunch time, converting a layup to keep Star within one. But he missed his chance to tie the game after muffing the bonus free throw.
The veteran guard then redeemed himself by intercepting June Mar Fajardo’s pass with 23 seconds left, giving Star the last shot and the opportunity to nail a game-winning basket.
However, Paul Lee missed a floater, allowing San Miguel to bag the win.
Rhodes got ample help from Alex Cabagnot (13 points, seven rebounds), June Mar Fajardo (12 points, nine boards), Marcio Lassiter (11 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Chris Ross (10 points).
Jio Jalalon chipped in 18 points as Ian Sangalang contributed 12 markers for Star.
