The Meralco Bolts will need a lot of effort to hurdle the San Miguel Beermen in Game 5 of the 48th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals today at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen showed the depth of their bench in Game 4, when they got back at the Bolts, 111-101, to tie their best-of-seven championship series at 2-all.
“If we need to do something, to take on their scorers, it’s going to take a lot of effort from us. They have so much weapons. We need to get better, not only from one, but from five guys,” said Bolts’ coach Luigi Trillo.
The Beermen drew big points from June Mar Fajardo, who played inspired, after he was hailed as the PBA – NUSTAR RESORT CEBU Best Player of the Conference.
The 6’10”Fajardo, who earned his 10th Best Player of the Conference trophy just before the game, came out with a season-high 28 points, while collaring 13 rebounds to also log his 13th straight double-double.
“They did a lot of good things. They got Junemar deep,” added Trillo.
Fajardo made up for a below-par showing in Game 3 when he was limited to just 12 points and fumbled with seven turnovers.
The Beermen, meanwhile, will also try to get ahead in the series in their next game.
And so will the Bolts, after a loss which foiled Chris Newsome’s new career-high of 40 points.