The San Miguel Beermen had a golden chance to win another PBA Philippine Cup title on Sunday, and they didn’t let it go to waste. Powered by a strong start and an even stronger finish, the defending champs defended their title with a 92-77 victory over the TNT Tropang 5G in Game 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
What Happened?
San Miguel roared to a 26-5 start en route to taking the first quarter, 26-10. But just as the Beermen looked ready to break Game 6 wide open, TNT answered back with a 29-23 second quarter to end the first half just down by ten, 49-39.
The Tropa continued the momentum shift in the third, where they outscored San Miguel, 29-21, to further cut the lead to 70-68 going to the payoff period. But an 8-0 start to the fourth gave San Miguel another double-digit lead, 78-68, before TNT got to within 78-73 on Poy Erram’s basket. The Beermen, though, were not to be denied as they scored the next 11 points to pull away again, 89-73 with three minutes left. That was all she wrote as San Miguel cruised to the Game 6 win and the championship.
Who Stood Out?
The Beermen wore down TNT thanks mostly to the three-headed monster of June Mar Fajardo, Cjay Perez, and Rodney Brondial. Perez was solid throughout with 19 points and 7 assists, while Brondial finished with a second straight double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Fajardo, who was named the Ramon Fernandez PBA Finals MVP, finished with 29 points, 23 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
On the other side, it was a one-man show for TNT, with Calvin Oftana doing the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, after exploding for 20 first-half points, the Gilas mainstay was held to just 8 in the second half by a San Miguel defense led by Chris Ross.
3 Keys to the Game
- Strong start. Other than Game 5, the trend for this series was that the team who started off great would ultimately prevail in the end. That was the case for the Beermen, who built an early 21-point lead in the first quarter. TNT wiped out all of that lead in the third but seemed to tire out in the fourth from playing catch-up.
- Defense. After Oftana’s first-half heroics, the Beermen keyed in on him with Ross as his primary defender. The adjustment worked wonders as Oftana was held to just 8 markers in the second half and couldn’t help TNT much in the fourth.
- June Mar Fajardo. Of course, Fajardo’s 29-point, 23-rebound double-double proved to be a huge difference-maker as The Kraken absolutely dominated the TNT frontline.
Next Up for the PBA
The PBA takes a one-month break and will return in March for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. But before that, the league will hold its All-Star festivities in Candon, Ilocos Sur, on March 6–8, 2026.
