The San Miguel Beermen survived a wild finish thanks to an ice-cold, clutch play from Marcio Lassiter that gave them the 111-110 Game 3 win over the Star Hotshots and a 2-1 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series lead on Wednesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
SMB relied on the all-around brilliance of import Charles Rhodes, who scored 36 points on 21 shots and tallied seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks, and guard Chris Ross, who finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
But with Star getting another monster performance from Ricardo Ratliffe, San Miguel needed the heroics of Lassiter, who grabbed an offensive rebound and banked in a game-winning three-pointer in the dying seconds to save the game for the Beermen.
The SMB sharpshooter finished with 12 points in the game.
The Hotshots had their hopes dashed despite a masterful fourth quarter effort from Ratliffe.
The Star import scored 13 of the last 16 of his team’s points, carrying his team almost single-handedly back from an eight-point deficit, 102-94. He scored six unanswered points in the last minute and a half of the game, including a big dunk in transition, two free throws and a sweet move in the paint that gave Star a 110-108 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the game.
Star nearly sealed it on the other end as Ross missed SMB’s first look at the basket but the recovery from Lassiter and the triple that followed proved to be the nail of the coffin for the Hotshots in Game 3.
Ratliffe finished with 44 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists for Star in the losing effort.
Paul Lee added 21 points, including three three-pointers, for the Hotshots but he could only score three points in the fourth quarter.
June Mar Fajardo had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Beermen. He scored 10 of those points in the opening period.
