FORMER champion San Miguel Beer made sure there will be a Game 7 in the PBA Philippine Cup.

With their backs against the wall, the Beermen finished strongly as they started in a 114-96 victory over defending champion TNT in Game 6 to set the stage for a seventh and deciding game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Led by Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Simon Enciso, the Beermen tore the Tropang Giga apart with a 40-point first quarter explosion to set the theme for the rout.

And when the Tropang Giga came to within nine points in the third period, the Beermen came through with another big scoring run to win pulling away.

Lassiter finished with a team-high 22 points on a remarkable 6-of-7 shooting from the three-point territory (85 percent) in 32 minutes

Perez and Enciso added 20 points apiece, Mo Tautuaa contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, Jericho Cruz had 11 points and “Best Player of the Conference” winner June Mar Fajardo had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Roger Pogoy was the top man for TNT with a game-high 31 points despite 6-of-14 shooting in 34 minutes

Frederick Tungcab and Troy Rosario were the only other TNT players in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Mikey Williams struggled with only two points on a disastrous 1-of-13 shooting in nearly 26 minutes, while veteran Kelly Williams had eight points on 3-of-8 clip in 25 minutes.

The combined 10-point performances of Kelly and Mikey Williams was a big letdown compared to their 44-point production in TNT’s 102-93 victory in Game 5 last Aug. 31.

TNT veteran Jayson Castro did not see action after twisting his right foot badly early in the third period of Game 5 last Wednesday.

The Tropang Giga also got limited help from JP Erram and Ryan Reyes, who both played with injuries. Erram managed seven points and eight rebounds while Reyes went scoreless with one assists.

Game 7 is scheduled at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The scores:

San Miguel (114) – Lassiter 22, Perez 20, Enciso 20, Tautuaa 15, Cruz 11, Fajardo 10, Brondial 6, Manuel 5, Ross 3, Pessumal 2, Canete 0, Herndon 0, Zamar 0, Faundo 0.
TNT (96) – Pogoy 31, Tungcab 12, Rosario 10, Montalbo 8, K.Williams 8, Erram 7, Marcelo 5, Banal 3, Cruz 3, M.Williams 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 40-24, 63-50, 92-68, 114-96.

The results:

Game 1 — TNT 86, San Miguel 84.
Game 2 — San Miguel 109, TNT 100.
Game 3 — San Miguel 108, TNT 100.
Game 4 — TNT 100, San Miguel 87.
Game 5 — TNT 102, San Miguel 93
Game 6 — San Miguel 114, TNT 96

(Seried tied, 3-3).