Bay Area dethrones San Miguel, sets up title showdown with Ginebra

Bay Area is advancing to the championship round after ousting defending champion San Miguel, 94-92, in Game 4 of their best-of-five semifinals series in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday. 

Back-to-back triples from Hayden Blankley and Kobey Lam put the Dragons up 82-78, but a June Mar Fajardo floater in the final five minutes gave the Beermen the lead back, 85-84.

CJ Perez added an and-one basket for a 89-88 lead, but Lam struck again with another three-pointer to give Bay Area a one-point lead.

San Miguel import Devon Scott successfully sank both of his free throws for a 94-92 deficit with 33.2 ticks left in the game, giving the Beermen a chance to level the series. 

However, Perez and Fajardo were unable to deliver in their final attempts, and Bay Area went on to beat the reigning champion 3-1 in the semifinals.

Andrew Nicholson showed the way for Bay Area with an impressive double-double of 42 points, including a stepback triple that gave them a 94-90 lead, to go along with 21 rebounds, four assists, and two steals. 

Lam tallied 26 markers, while Blankley finished with 12. 

Barangay Ginebra earlier showed the door to Magnolia in their semifinals clash. —VBL, GMA Integrated News