History was made when San Miguel Beer hoisted its fifth straight Philippine Cup trophy in the Philippine Basketball Association.
The Beermen further cemented their dynasty as they captured their 26th overall championship after once again reigning supreme in the All-Filipino conference for the fifth season in a row after squeaking past Magnolia in an epic Game 7 Wednesday night to conclude the highly competitive seven-game championship series.
San Miguel Beer’s bid for a five-peat was not easy by any means as it had to endure the Hotshots’ tremendous threat and challenge before willing its way towards the historic feat it just accomplished.
“Hindi madali,” said San Miguel superstar June Mar Fajardo, who once again was at the forefront of the Beermen’s championship drive. “Down kami halos buong finals, sa Game 7 rin, pero nakahanap kami ng paraan. Naipakita namin gusto namin talaga makuha pa rin.”
“It took us a lot of hard work and dedication to get this historic accomplishment,” added Beermen gunner Marcio Lassiter. “We didn’t just get here. It really took a lot.”
Fajardo showed why everyone is living in his era, setting a single-game record for locals of 31 rebounds on top of 17 points to lead San Miguel to a gut-wrenching 72-71 escape win over Magnolia in the gut-wrenching Game 7,
Winning his seventh championship as San Miguel Beer’s head coach, Leo Austria credited his players and even Magnolia for the fulfilling finish.
“Magnolia brought out the best in us and was worthy to be champion, too. It was very difficult,” said Austria after seeing his team trail by 17 points first before pulling it off in Game 7. “My players made me look like a good coach.”
Austria is still in awe of all the accomplishments that he and his team achieved for the past five seasons that they’ve been dominating.
“I couldn’t imagine this kind of success. I never thought this will happen,” expressed the jubilant Austria. “I never thought we will win five straight All-Filipino championships.”
While the long-running core of Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot, Chris Ross, Arwind Santos and Lassiter added more to their legacy, recent additions Terrence Romeo and Christian Standhardinger got a taste of a championship for the first time in their PBA careers.