In the second quarter, Denok Miranda dished out a no-look pass to Jay Washington for a wide-open lay-up, Olsen Racela blocked Larry Fonacier’s running jumper from behind and the Texters went on a 6-0 blitz to end the half.

Jimmy Alapag started the third quarter with back-to-back treys to trim what was once a 17-point deficit, 42-25, to seven, 44-37. Then, Danny Ildefonso passed up an open 15-footer to locate Dondon Hontiveros free for a triple. Ildefonso’s decision was a show of trust in Hontiveros who threw up a three-point air ball in his previous attempt. Dorian Peña scored on a lay-up off a difficult Alex Cabagnot pass that threaded the eye of the needle. Cabagnot later did the same thing for Jay-Wash to complete a three-point play.

Things got even more frenetic and dramatic in the payoff period.

Ryan Reyes limped back to the bench with cramps but returned to score on an incredible put-back with less than three minutes to go. Arwind Santos goofed in passing to the referee for a turnover as San Miguel protected an 85-80 lead, with two minutes left. Jason Castro buried a clutch triple to trim the gap to two. Santos committed another error, this time on a faulty inbound. He could’ve called a timeout under duress but opted to pass to Racela who fell out of bounds in trying to catch the wayward ball. Fonacier hit a free throw to knot the count, 85-all, with 1:13 left. Cabagnot, nicknamed the Cruncher, hit a pressure-packed jumper to make it 87-85 for San Miguel, time down to 57.7 seconds, despite defense from Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo. Santos atoned for his two miscues by deflecting an Alapag pass to De Ocampo, creating a turnover that led to Racela’s two free throws. Harvey Carey retaliated to close in at 89-87 then Racela flubbed a trey with 14.3 ticks to go. De Ocampo took a jumper to tie it but missed. Racela recovered the loose ball and iced it with two more fouls shots, 91-87.

Those magic moments were the unforgettable images of the series equalizer.

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What bailed San Miguel out was its strong start. The Beermen limited the Tropa to only 31 points in the first half and leaned on veterans Ildefonso and Racela to survive the Texters’ late surge. As in Game 3, Coach Ato Agustin took the initiative in dictating the match-ups. Ildefonso started at center and engaged De Ocampo in a mano-a-mano battle. Paul Artadi opened at point guard and drew two quick fouls from Alapag. Cabagnot came off the bench to play one and two, depending on whom Agustin put in combination.

Agustin didn’t hesitate to play big or small, no matter what Reyes did. In the fourth period, he played Ildefonso, Peña, Santos, Washington and Cabagnot together to erase the Texters’ size advantage. He tweaked the lineup down the stretch to bring in Hontiveros for Peña, sliding Ildefonso to the middle. Reyes went with Fonacier, Kelly Williams, Alapag, Castro and De Ocampo for defense in the final minute. Carey teamed up with Williams and Peek in alternating tandems to give Talk ‘N’ Text a lot of rebounding strength.

No doubt, what brought San Miguel back in the series was defense. In the first two games, the Beermen gave up an average of 100 points as Talk ‘N’ Text hit .472 from the floor. In the last two games, the Texters were held to an average of only 84.5 and .376 field goal shooting. San Miguel’s goal in Game 5 is clear – hold the Tropa to less than 90 points and lower than .400 field goal accuracy.

A big adjustment that helped San Miguel’s comeback was Santos’ shot selection. In the first two games, he averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 three-point attempts, 5.5 two-point attempts and 4.5 free throw attempts. In the last two games, he averaged 19 points (a significant increase), 6.5 three-point attempts (no difference), 10 two-point attempts (a major increase) and six free throw attempts (a slight increase). It’s obvious that Santos is now playing closer to the basket, taking more shots from two-point distance and as a result, is going to the line more and delivering incremental points. Washington on the outside and Santos on the inside is an adjustment that has positive implications for San Miguel.

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It’s difficult to expect San Miguel to play with the same energy and intensity tonight as in Games 3 and 4. The Beermen must be fagged out. Washington and Santos played over 40 minutes each in Game 4 and combined to hit over 50 percent of San Miguel’s points. The two-day rest was providential for San Miguel. A win for the Beermen will mean beating Talk ‘N’ Text thrice in a row, not a betting proposition. The Texters are due for a win.

For San Miguel to prevail tonight, the Beermen must protect the interior – limit layups, take away penetrations and hold down fastbreak points, bait the Tropa’s backcourt to play out of rhythm and stay a step ahead in creating mismatches. For Talk ‘N’ Text to win, the Tropa must rule the boards, attack aggressively from the outset and deny the Crunchman his touches because Cabagnot doesn’t only hit the clutch shots but also sets up teammates to generate San Miguel’s flow (he had seven assists in Game 4).

In a best-of-three series, Game 1 is critical because the winner gains a twice-to-beat advantage the rest of the way. That’s what the situation is now – the finals is effectively down to a best-of-three affair. That’s why Game 5 tonight will be a war to end all wars.

Joaquin Henson, Philippine Star