The San Miguel Beermen banked on the heroics of Simon Enciso to pull off a pulsating 98-96 triumph over the Bay Area Dragons Sunday night and remain in contention for a championship berth in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Philsports Arena.
Enciso unloaded a triple in the last 10 seconds as the backs-to-the-wall Beermen stayed alive in Game 3 of their best-of five series, with the Dragons still leading though, 2-1.
Coach Leo Austria said they struggled with the prolific Andrew Nicholson’s presence the last time around.
“Last game, it was virtually Nicholson, who beat us. So, we tried our best to limit his shots,”said Austria.
Nicholson still led the Dragons with 38 points and 14 rebounds, but was held to just six in the fourth.
Devon Scott made a team-high 25 points and 14 rebounds for the defending champions, who managed to stretch the series to a Game 4.
Scott kept the Dragons from equalizing in the last seven seconds when he blocked Kobey Lam’s layup.
The Dragons still kept possession and tried another bid to force an overtime.
But Scott managed to go for a rebound after Hayden Blankly missed with two ticks left.
“This is an indication [that] Bay Area is beatable,” said Austria after the Beermen finally defeated the Dragons for the first time in four games dating back to the eliminations.