Terrence Romeo waxed hot in the fourth quarter, while Marcio Lassiter came through with timely hits to carry San Miguel Beer to a 98-96 win over TNT Tropang Giga on Wednesday in Game 2 of the 2021 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup semifinals at the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Romeo came up with 26 points as the Beermen equalized their best-of-seven semifinals series at one win apiece with the Tropang Giga.
The Beermen almost ran into trouble when Arwind Santos and JuneMar Fajardo bungled their attempts as the buzzer winded down, but Lassiter was there to save the day with a putback for the game winner.
This foiled the Tropang Giga’s bid to move ahead with two straight victories following their 89-88 triumph in Game 1 last Monday.
“It (play) was for JuneMar, then it was for Terrence. It was a good play for him (JuneMar). But he missed the shot. But Marcio was still around, and he had a sense of urgency,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria.
Lassiter’s big play came after the Beermen fought their way out of a 15-point deficit at the start of the fourth period.
With the Tropang Giga enjoying an 82-67 lead, Romeo banged in 17 points, including two triples during an 11-minute stretch.
Romeo’s jumper with 1:23 left put SMB to within a point at 92-93.
Then, Lassiter, who only had seven points in the game, levelled the tally at 93-all in the final minute with a split charity.
Lassiter’s second and game-winning basket with no time left put to naught the heroics of Troy Rosario, who tied the match at 96-all with a trey, with 6.4 seconds remaining.
Fajardo had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Beermen.
Roger Pogoy top-scored with 21 points for TNT, while Rosario had 14 points.