2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup finals

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
PBA Philippine Cup finals chronology
< 2014–15 2016–17 >
PBA finals chronology
< 2015 Governors' 2016 Commissioner's >

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.

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]

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]

*overtime

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.

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]

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 (EI) EASL 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 (EI) EASL Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

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

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.

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

• PBA official website