2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup finals

The 2015–16 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs.^[1] The Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen competed for the 38th All-Filipino championship and the 116th overall championship contested by the league.

2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup finals

Team Coach Wins (2) San Miguel Beermen Leo Austria 4 (1) Alaska Aces Alex Compton 3
Dates	January 17 – February 3, 2016
MVP	Chris Ross (San Miguel Beermen)
Television	Local: Sports5 TV5 AksyonTV Cignal PPV (HD) Hyper (HD) Fox Sports International: AksyonTV International
Referees
Game 1: A. Herrera, P. Balao, E. Tangkion, J. Oliva Game 2: P. Balao, J. Mariano, E. Tangkion, J. Oliva Game 3: N. Quilinguen, P. Balao, E. Tangkion, S. Pineda Game 4: N. Quilinguen, R. Marabe, R. Dacanay, J. Oliva Game 5: J. Mariano, N. Guevarra, J. Marabe, E. Tangkion Game 6: A. Herrera, P. Balao, N. Guevara, S. Pineda Game 7: N. Quilinguen, N. Guevarra, R. Dacanay, J. Oliva

This also serves as the rematch for both teams, as they competed for the 2014–15 Philippine Cup and for the 2015 Governors' Cup, a year and a conference, respectively.^[2]

The Alaska Aces won the first three games to go up 3–0, behind Vic Manuel's outstanding performances.^[3][4][5] Since then, the San Miguel Beermen won Games 4, 5, and 6^[6][7][8] to force a Game 7 and became the first team in PBA history to force a seventh game, after being down 0–3, behind excellent performances from Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos. Game 5 marked the return of June Mar Fajardo,^[9] who suffered a knee injury in Game 6 of their semifinals series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

San Miguel won against Alaska in seven games to capture their 22nd PBA championship and their 6th Philippine Cup. Dubbed as "BEERacle", San Miguel became the first team in professional basketball history to win a series coming from a 0–3 deficit.^[10]

Background

In the 2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup, the Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen were the top 2 teams in the conference, both with a 9–2 record. In their head-to-head matchup in the elimination round, the Aces defeated San Miguel, 103–97 to clinch the top spot in the elimination round.^[11] The Beermen finished second. With the virtue of being the top two teams, the Aces and the Beermen qualified directly to the semi-finals of the conference.

In the semifinals, Alaska faced the GlobalPort Batang Pier, who are making their first semifinals appearance in the history of their franchise.^[12] The first game was won by GlobalPort, led by Terrence Romeo's career high 41 points.^[13] Since then, the Aces bounced back to win 4 straight games to win the series 4–1 with the held, and make their 10th Philippine Cup finals appearance.^[14]

San Miguel faced the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the other semi-final series. The two teams last played a semifinals series against each other during the 2015 PBA Governors' Cup. The first game was won by San Miguel, coming back from a 20-point deficit, behind June Mar Fajardo's double-double of 36 points and 18 rebounds and Ronald Tubid's outside shooting heroics.^[15] Rain or Shine won Game 2, led by Jeff Chan's 16 points,^[16] and Game 3, led by Paul Lee's 18 points.^[17] The Elasto Painters were not able to win the next games and the Beermen went on to win 3 straight games to win the series 4–2 and to book their ticket to the finals.^[18] However, June Mar Fajardo got injured with a twisted left knee during the game and was brought out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and was brought directly to the St. Lukes Medical Center in Taguig.^[19]

Road to the finals

Main article: 2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup

San Miguel		Alaska
Finished 9–2 (0.818): Tied with Alaska at 1st place	Elimination round		Finished 9–2 (0.818): Tied with San Miguel at 1st place
0.942 (2nd place)	Tiebreaker*		1.062 (1st place)
Automatically advanced after placing top 2	Quarterfinals		Automatically advanced after placing top 2
def. Rain or Shine, 4–2	Semifinals		def. GlobalPort, 4–1

head-to-head matchup

December 16

recap

San Miguel Beermen 97, Alaska Aces 103

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Series summary

Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7	Wins
San Miguel	91	80	75	110*	86*	100	96	4
Alaska	100	83	82	104	73	89	89	3
Venue	Araneta	Araneta	Lucena	PhilSports	Araneta	Araneta	MOA

*overtime

Game 1

TV5

January 17 5:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 91, Alaska Aces 100
Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 19–15, 33–28, 16–34
Pts: Cabagnot 20 Rebs: Espinas 8 Asts: Cabagnot, Ross 4		Pts: Manuel 24 Rebs: Abueva 13 Asts: Hontiveros, Jazul 4
Alaska leads series, 1–0

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: A. Herrera, P. Balao, E. Tangkion, J. Oliva

In this game, the Beermen and the Aces were tied after the first quarter as both team scored 23 points a piece. Then at halftime, the Beermen hold a 4-point lead against the Aces. After the third quarter, the Beermen scored 33 points as they got a nine-point lead over the Aces. But in the 4th quarter, the Aces scored 34 points to comeback from a nine-point deficit in the 3rd quarter and won Game 1 of the series.

Game 2

TV5

January 19 7:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 80, Alaska Aces 83
Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 18–16, 24–23, 20–21
Pts: Cabagnot 23 Rebs: de Ocampo 14 Asts: Lassiter 3		Pts: Manuel 18 Rebs: Abueva 11 Asts: Manuel 3
Alaska lead series, 2–0

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: P. Balao, J. Mariano, E. Tangkion, J. Oliva

Game 3

TV5

January 22 7:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 75, Alaska Aces 82
Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 24–11, 17–24, 17–27
Pts: Reyes 13 Rebs: Santos 9 Asts: Cabagnot 5		Pts: Manuel 17 Rebs: Baguio 8 Asts: Baguio 4
Alaska lead series, 3–0

Quezon Convention Center, Lucena Referees: N. Quilinguen, P. Balao, E. Tangkion, S. Pineda

Game 4

TV5

January 24 5:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 110, Alaska Aces 104 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 20–28, 23–21, 26–28, 29–21, Overtime: 12–6
Pts: Lassiter 26 Rebs: Espinas 14 Asts: Ross 9		Pts: Manuel 20 Rebs: Manuel 13 Asts: Baguio, Casio 4
Alaska lead series, 3–1

PhilSports Arena, Pasig Referees: N. Quilinguen, R. Marabe, R. Dacanay, J. Oliva

Game 5

TV5

January 27 7:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 86, Alaska Aces 73 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 13–16, 16–19, 15–12, Overtime: 19–6
Pts: Santos 22 Rebs: Santos 16 Asts: Ross 7		Pts: Manuel 25 Rebs: Manuel 13 Asts: Abueva 6
Alaska lead series, 3–2

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: J. Mariano, N. Guevarra, J. Marabe, E. Tangkion

Game 6

TV5

January 29 7:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 100, Alaska Aces 89
Scoring by quarter: 22–29, 29–20, 16–17, 33–23
Pts: Lassiter 26 Rebs: Santos 15 Asts: three players 3		Pts: Manuel 21 Rebs: Abueva, Manuel 9 Asts: Jazul 4
Series tied, 3–3

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 12,626 Referees: A. Herrera, P. Balao, N. Guevara, S. Pineda

Game 7

TV5

February 3 7:00pm

Boxscore

San Miguel Beermen 96, Alaska Aces 89
Scoring by quarter: 22–16, 21–22, 25–13, 28–38
Pts: Fajardo, Ross 21 Rebs: Fajardo 15 Asts: Cabagnot, Ross 5		Pts: Banchero 21 Rebs: Baguio 11 Asts: Abueva, Exciminiano 3
San Miguel wins series, 4–3

Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 23,616 Referees: N. Quilinguen, N. Guevarra, R. Dacanay, J. Oliva

In a controversial move, Alaska head coach Alex Compton called for three straight timeouts at the start of the game.

By winning the game and the series, San Miguel became the first team in professional basketball history to comeback in a 3–0 deficit. This comeback is known as the "Beeracle". It was cited by The New York Times in a May 2023 article about a prelude to the Game 7 of the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, where Miami led the series 3–0 before Boston won the next three games to force a game 7.^[20][21] Unlike the Beermen, however, the Celtics lost the Game 7, rendering their comeback attempt as unsuccessful.^[22]

Rosters

San Miguel Beermen roster

• v
• t
• e

Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Heruela, Brian 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1989-04-13 Cebu G/F 3 Lutz, Chris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1985-02-11 Marshall F/C 4 Reyes, Jay-R 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1984-07-16 UP Diliman G 5 Cabagnot, Alex 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1982-12-08 Hawaiʻi–Hilo G 6 Ross, Chris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1985-03-08 Marshall G/F 13 Lassiter, Marcio 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1987-05-16 Cal State Fullerton C 15 Fajardo, June Mar 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 268 lb (122 kg) 1989-11-17 Cebu G 18 Araña, Ryan 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1983-03-23 De La Salle F 21 Omolon, Nelbert 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1980-06-30 Philippine Christian F 27 Espinas, Gabby 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1982-01-03 Philippine Christian F 28 Mabulac, Michael (R/IN) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1991-10-31 José Rizal F 29 Santos, Arwind (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1981-06-10 Far Eastern F 33 Semerad, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1991-04-25 San Beda G 71 Tubid, Ronald 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1981-10-15 UE C 95 De Ocampo, Yancy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1980-03-11 Saint Francis of Assisi	Head coach Leo Austria (Lyceum) Assistant coach(es) Peter Martin (San Sebastian) Dayong Mendoza Biboy Ravanes (Cebu) Boyzie Zamar (UE) Ato Agustin (Lyceum) Jorge Gallent (Far Eastern) Team manager Gee Abanilla (De La Salle) Daniel Henares (Assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (CI) Commissioner's Cup Import (GI) Governors' Cup Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

Alaska Aces roster

• v
• t
• e

Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 2 Banchero, Chris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1989–01–24 Seattle Pacific G/F 3 Baguio, Cyrus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1980–08–19 UST F 4 Manuel, Vic 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1987–06–18 PSBA C 7 Thoss, Sonny 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1981–12–07 James Cook F 8 Abueva, Calvin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1988–02–04 San Sebastian F/C 9 Baclao, Nonoy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1987–06–15 Ateneo F/C 10 Magat, Marion (R/IN) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1989–10–22 National-U F 11 dela Rosa, Rome 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1990–12–11 San Beda G 17 Exciminiano, Chris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1988–11–17 Far Eastern G/F 25 Hontiveros, Dondon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1977–06–01 Cebu C 26 Eman, Samigue 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 239 lb (108 kg) 1982–03–12 Mindanao F/C 30 Menk, Eric 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1974–08–24 Lake Superior State G 31 Jazul, RJ 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1986–04–11 Letran F 35 dela Cruz, Tony (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 209 lb (95 kg) 1978–08–24 UC Irvine G 42 Casio, JVee 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1986–09–01 De La Salle F 61 Racal, Kevin (R/IN) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1991–05–16 Letran	Head coach Alex Compton (Cornell) Assistant coach(es) Louie Alas (Adamson) Jeffrey Cariaso (Sonoma State) Topex Robinson (San Sebastian) Monch Gavieres (Letran) Franco Atienza (San Sebastian) Team manager Dickie Bachmann[a] (De La Salle) Legend (C) Team captain (CI) Commissioner's Cup Import (GI) Governors' Cup Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

• ^a also serves as Alaska's board governor.

Broadcast notes

The Philippine Cup Finals aired on TV5 with simulcasts on Hyper (both in standard and high definition) and Cignal TV channel 198 (in high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 aired it as well. Fox Sports Asia airs the games as well on a delayed basis.

Cignal TV provided English-language coverage of the finals.

Game	Sports5			Cignal TV (English)		Fox Sports (English)
	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)	Courtside reporters	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)
Game 1	Magoo Marjon	Andy Jao and Ryan Gregorio	Rizza Diaz	same commentators with TV5		no broadcast
Game 2	Charlie Cuna	Eric Reyes and Tim Cone	Sel Guevara	James Velasquez	Richard del Rosario	Nikko Ramos	Ronnie Magsanoc
Game 3	Magoo Marjon	Jolly Escobar and Charles Tiu	Apple David	James Velasquez	Carlo Pamintuan	no broadcast
Game 4	Sev Sarmenta	Andy Jao and Ali Peek	Rizza Diaz	Aaron Atayde	Norman Black	Jude Turcuato	Vince Hizon
Game 5	Magoo Marjon	Dominic Uy and Tim Cone	Sel Guevara	Charlie Cuna	Luigi Trillo	Nikko Ramos	Vince Hizon
Game 6	Charlie Cuna	Quinito Henson and Tim Cone	Rizza Diaz	Aaron Atayde	Ryan Gregorio	Jude Turcuato	Ronnie Magsanoc
Game 7	Magoo Marjon	Dominic Uy and Tim Cone	Apple David	Charlie Cuna	Richard del Rosario	Nikko Ramos	Vince Hizon

• Additional Game 7 crew:
  • Trophy presentation: James Velasquez
  • Dugout celebration interviewer: Mara Aquino

References

1. PBA set to hold one game of Philippine Cup finals in Lucena, Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph, January 13, 2016
2. PBA’s most successful franchises San Miguel, Alaska collide as Philippine Cup Finals unfold, Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph, January 17, 2016
3. HIGHLIGHTS: Alaska vs San Miguel – 2016 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Game 1, rappler.com, Rappler, January 17, 2016
4. Alaska up 2–0, Edri Aznar, Sun Star Cebu, January 20, 2016
5. Aces flatten Beermen, gain 3–0 lead, Nelson Beltran, The Philippine Star, January 23, 2016
6. San Miguel foils Alaska's PBA Finals sweep, wins Game 4 in OT to extend series, Jane Bracher, Rappler, January 24, 2016
7. San Miguel beats Alaska in Game 5, extends PBA Finals, Naveen Ganglani, Rappler, January 27, 2016
8. PBA Finals: San Miguel Beer pummels Alaska, forces Game 7 Archived 2016-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, CNN Philippines, February 1, 2016
9. PBA Finals: Fajardo returns as Beermen scrape past Alaska in Game 5 Archived 2016-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Jan Ballesteros, CNN Philippines, January 28, 2016
10. San Miguel makes history, wins PBA Philippine Cup title, Jane Bracher, Rappler, February 3, 2016
11. PBA: Alaska outlasts Beermen, overcomes Fajardo's 43 points Archived 2016-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, CNN Philippines, December 17, 2015
12. PBA: GlobalPort outlasts Ginebra, books semis slugfest vs Alaska, Renee Fopalan, GMA News, December 27, 2015
13. Terrence Romeo runs GlobalPort show, scores career-high 41 in Game One win over Alaska, Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph
14. Alaska returns to PBA Finals after blowout of Globalport, Jane Bracher, Rappler, January 12, 2016
15. PBA: San Miguel erases 20-pt lead, steals Game 1 of semis vs Rain or Shine, Renee Fopalan, GMA News, January 5, 2016
16. Rain or Shine avoids another meltdown vs San Miguel in Game 2, Naveen Ganglani, Rappler, January 7, 2016
17. PBA 2016: San Miguel falls despite Fajardo's 40 points; Rain or Shine leads series 2–1 Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Ernest Hernandez, SportsRageous, January 9, 2016
18. San Miguel beats Rain or Shine to make finals, but loses Fajardo, Naveen Ganglani, Rappler, January 15, 2016
19. Prayers for June Mar Fajardo after SMB, Gilas star leaves Game Six with knee injury, Gerry Ramos, spin.ph, January 15, 2016
20. Henson, Joaquin (May 29, 2023). "'Beeracle' cited by NY Times". The Philippine Star. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
21. Marther, Victor (May 29, 2023). "The Miami Heat Are on the Brink of Bad History". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
22. Cacciola, Scott (May 29, 2023). "The Miami Heat Earned a Trip to the N.B.A. Finals the Hard Way". The New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2024. The Heat, just the second eighth seed to reach the championship round, nearly blew a 3-0 series lead against the Celtics.

External links

• PBA official website