June Mar Fajardo powered the San Miguel Beermen to a 108-88 rout of the TNT Tropang 5G on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to seize a 2-1 lead in the 2025 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
Fajardo, the presumptive Best Player of the Conference, fired a game-high 33 points on top of 11 rebounds as he outmuscled, outworked, and outsmarted a TNT frontline missing one of its key big men in Poy Erram, who missed Game 3 due to a high right ankle sprain.
The Kraken was particularly dominant in the first half, when he scored 21 of his total in helping San Miguel build a 59-52 lead at the break.
Beermen Explode in the Second Half
With Game 3 still a dogfight, the Beermen began imposing their will in the third as they outscored the Tropang 5G, 27-18, to enter the final frame with an 86-70 advantage.
But the Tropa still had some fight left, inching to within 90-83 on a technical free throw by Calvin Oftana preceded by some missed shots and sloppy play from the Beermen. Chris Ross and the rest of the Beermen, though, would have none of it, turning up the heat in the final four minutes of regulation and outsourcing TNT 18-5 the rest of the way to put Game 3 to rest.
Ross finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds while nailing dagger treys that quelled TNT’s last-grasp rally. Jericho Cruz, CJay Perez, and Don Trollano, Game 2’s hero, added 13, 12, and 10, respectively.
RR Pogoy led TNT with 16 markers but was just 6-for-16 from the field. Calvin Oftana added 15, Genn Khobuntin chipped in 13, Kelly Williams had 11, and Jordan Heading finished with 10. Almond Vosotros also got to double-digits, firing 14 points and leading TNT’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt.
2025 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Continue: Beermen Go for Jugular, TNT Seeks 2-2 Tie
The 2025 PBA Philippine Cup Finals will continue on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena for Game 4. The Beermen will look to seize complete control of the series while the Tropa will try to even things up.
