SAN Miguel Beer tries to build on its scrappy Game 2 victory when it shoots for a 2-1 lead versus Meralco as action in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals resumes on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is at 6:15 p.m.

The Beermen rode on the key three-point baskets by CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter inside the final 25 seconds to lift the top seeds to a nail-biting 95-94 escape act against the Bolts on Friday night.

Perez fired a playoffs career-high 34 markers, while Lassiter, despite missing six of his first seven attempts from the field, made the biggest shot at the most crucial time.

While the shots came falling, SMB coach Jorge Gallent took note of the Beermen's collective efforts on the defensive end that allowed them to avoid a 0-2 series hole.

"We just picked up our defense coming from when we were down by five. We had two to three stops and that gave us our fastbreak points," said Gallent. "Offensively, we were just pushing the ball down and looking for open players."

The painful Game 2 loss, though, is expected to strengthen the resolve of Meralco, which has won 10 of its last 14 games in this conference before the loss on Friday.

The Bolts have been relying well on their solid team defense, a key factor that allowed them to reach the all-Filipino conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.

While the Beermen have a stable of championship-caliber stars led by Best Player of the Conference candidate June Mar Fajardo, Perez, Don Trollano and Lassiter, the Bolts have their own solid core of Chris Banchero, Chris Newsome, Raymund Almazan and Cliff Hodge, whose game-long hustle has provided the energy for the team in the playoffs.

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