By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/Philippine News Agency
CARMONA — San Miguel completely shattered a PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal disadvantage against NorthPort and booked a spot in the semifinals with a 90-88 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Wednesday night.
Chris McCullough scored the eventual game-winning layup with 25.2 seconds left as the Beermen overcame a late fightback from the Batang Pier to join Barangay Ginebra in the Final Four.
Despite losing Marcio Lassiter to a left knee injury in the second quarter, SMB showed brilliance and opened a 16-point lead, 79-63, with 8:49 left.
However, NorthPort slowly crawled back with a 23-4 run to take an 86-82 advantage with 1:51 remaining.
Arwind Santos scored five straight points–a right wing triple and a layup off a Chris Ross steal, to give the Beermen an 87-86 lead with 1:25 to play.
Robert Bolick made up for the turnover that led to the Ross steal by scoring on a layup to give the Batang Pier the lead back, 89-88, with 31.6 seconds to play.
But McCullough quickly found an open lane for an easy score in the next play.
Mo Tautuaa had a chance to give NorthPort back the lead, but he misfired on a triple and
McCullough grabbed the rebound.
McCullough, however, still kept the door open as he only made 1-for-2 from the foul line with 11 seconds left.
Bolick had a chance to win for the Batang Pier, but his triple rimmed out as time expired.
McCullough finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, one assist, four blocks, and three steals for seventh-seeded SMB, which will meet the winner of the knockout duel between Rain Or Shine and Blackwater on Thursday in a best-of-five semifinals.
Before leaving the game to treat the injured knee, Lassiter had 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from long range, three rebounds, two assists, and one block.
Santos also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds alongside one assist, two steals, and one block off the bench.
Garvo Lanete dropped 22 points and one rebound off the bench for NorthPort, which failed to advance to the semis despite only needing one win to do so as a perk of being the second seed.
Prince Ibeh made 15 points, 20 rebounds, one assist, seven blocks, and one steal, while Sean Anthony made 10 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block off the bench.
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