Marcio Lassiter of San Miguel goes up against the defense of Star’s Marc Barroca in Game 3 of the PBA semis.
pba media bureau
WITH ONE flick of the wrist and the ball kissing off the glass, Marcio Lassiter came up with the most unbelievable shot to cap a mind-boggling end to Game 3 yesterday that put San Miguel Beer right back where the Beermen were in pre-series predictions with Star – at the top.
Lassiter hit the marginal triple with 1.6 seconds left that gave the Beermen a 111-110 win over the Hotshots for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup for the perfect ending to the high quality of basketball played at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was the kind of win that will give the Beermen all the morale boost and confidence they need – and the sort of a setback that could be enough to deflate the Hotshots – when Game 4 is played Friday night at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“One point (win)? It doesn’t matter. We’re one win away from another Finals,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria blurted out minutes later.
Ricardo Ratliffe hit a tough turnaround jumper with 13.6 seconds left to give the Hotshots a 110-108 lead, and Star seemed to have the win in the bag after Chris Ross – brilliant all night with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists – missed a long jumper.