Beermen relish return to PBA glory

The road may have been long, but the prize at the end was surely worth the journey.

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First-time PBA Finals Most Valuable Player Jericho Cruz said that the long way the San Miguel Beermen had to go through to go back up on top of the food chain made their PBA Philippine Cup championship run much, much sweeter.

Earlier this year, Cruz and the Beermen failed to make it to the PBA playoffs, marking the first time it happened in 10 years.

But a few months later, and San Miguel is now back to familiar territory - on top.

San Miguel rose back on the throne after an emotional six-game series against the TNT Tropang 5G, which also denied the latter a Grand Slam.

San Miguel thus notched a record-extending 30th trophy and its 11th All-Filipino title.

After the Beermen's championship-clinching 107-96 win over TNT in Game 6 Friday evening, Cruz looked back on what they went through.