Here comes San Miguel’s potential 29th franchise title. 

From a Game 3 suspension, Jericho Cruz more than made up for his absence after steering the Beermen to a 108-98 victory over Magnolia in the 2023-24’ PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals series on Sunday night, Feb. 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

The 6-foot-1 guard, who caught fire from deep after scoring 24 points off threes made to tie his career-best performance 30 points, was handed an automatic one-game suspension by the league after five accumulated technical fouls in the conference. 

In Game 2 that saw San Miguel claim a 109-85 win for a 2-0 lead, Cruz was called for the technical foul for taunting Calvin Abueva.

The Beermen then found themselves disarmed of a 2-0 leverage with the series tied at 2-2 after four games. 

However, Cruz refused to let the suspension become the reason for San Miguel’s lost shot at a championship victory — its first after two years — due to an unavoidable blunder. 

“Para sa akin, just move on na. Hindi na natin maibabalik ‘yun eh. Preparing lang ako on what’s coming and itong game na to. My focus is to play this game and after this, for the next game,” Cruz said. 

“Pag masama ‘yung laro ng isa, there’s always one person that’s next man-up. ‘Yun lang ginagawa namin once we’re given a chance to play on the court talagang we just have to provide. I’m so happy na maganda ‘yung nilaro ko tapos panalo pa kami. Medyo speechless ako ngayon parang nasa era pa ako. Job’s not finished yet,” he said. 

“So back to the drawing board. Kung ano man ‘yung binigay sa amin nila coach on preparation, ‘yun lang para sa next game namin.

As Cruz regained much-needed confidence coming out of one-game suspension and a measly Game 4 shooting, the San Miguel guard is looking to finish off the series no matter what it takes come Game 6 against an obviously raring Magnolia.