PBA Philippine Cup 2026 champion San Miguel Beer (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
MANILA – San Miguel preserved a hot start with an even more dominant finish to clobber TNT, 92-77, and clinch back-to-back PBA Philippine Cup championships in front of 14,201 fans at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Sunday.
The Beermen raced to a 26-5 lead late in the first quarter, forcing the Tropang 5G to call three timeouts.
“It’s obvious that the players didn’t want to lose this game because they don’t want another game on Wednesday,” coach Leo Austria said in an interview.
Behind the heroics of Calvin Oftana, TNT crawled back and took the lead, 68-66, late in the third period.
SMB recovered after the TNT rally and ended the game on a 26-9 run.
It was the Beermen’s third all-Filipino title in four years, the other two also at the expense of TNT. Overall, they won their 12th Philippine Cup crown.
“Tonight’s game is amazing for the players, because from start to finish, talagang pinakita nila (they really showed) what’s the character of the team. Although we had a good start and then TNT recovered, the composure ng players ay talagang nandoon, hindi nawawala (was really there, it didn’t disappear) because of experience, especially in this situation, the championship game,” Austria said.
June Mar Fajardo, deemed questionable after injuring his knee in Game 5, played a monster game and finished with a season-high 29 points, 23 rebounds, two assists, one block, and two steals.
Fajardo matched TNT’s scoring in the first quarter with 10 points, making his first five shots.
He was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the championship series and received the new Finals MVP award called the Ramon Fernandez Trophy.
Fernandez himself handed the award to his fellow Cebuano center.
“Nakakatuwang isipin na ako yung kauna-unahang makakakuha ng MVP trophy na yan na nakapangalan kay Don Ramon Fernandez. Isa siya sa mga nilu-look up ko. Isang karangalan na ‘yung trophy na yun, isa sa mga highlight ng championship na ito (I’m happy that I am the first ever recipient of the MVP trophy named after Don Ramon Fernandez. He is among those I look up to. It’s an honor that the trophy is one of the highlights of this championship),” Fajardo said.
CJ Perez added 19 points, four rebounds, seven assists and one steal, while Rodney Brondial chipped in 15 points, 13 rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Oftana finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Tropang 5G. (PNA- Ivan Stewart Saldajeno)