MANILA, Philippines – Decades after they last played a game in the Philippine Basketball Association, the legendary pair of Ramon Fernandez and Robert Jaworski still drew loud cheers when they both showed up to a game on Thursday.

The former teammates-turned-rivals watched Game 4 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series between San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra, which the Beermen won in dominant fashion, 102-81.

That gave the Beermen a 3-1 lead in their best-of-7 series, and sent the Gin Kings to the brink of elimination.

• PBA: Game 5 a ‘must-win’ for San Miguel, coach Leo Austria says
• PBA: Chris Ross shrugs off injury, finds way to contribute for San Miguel

For both Fernandez and Jaworski, their reunion during the game was an unexpected but happy occurrence. The two shook hands and hugged during the second period, much to the delight of the fans and even the players of both squads.

"I'm happy to see him," said Jaworski of Fernandez. "It's fine and wonderful. It's good that he was able to watch."

• PBA: June Mar has only one regret after huge Game 4 win over Ginebra
• PBA: Tim Cone on Game 4 loss — ‘I was outcoached and outclassed’

Fernandez agreed: "We just said hi to each other, kamusta, hi lang. It's been a long time since we've seen each other."

That Jaworski watched Ginebra play is no surprise; he has often showed up during playoff games especially when the Gin Kings needed a jolt of inspiration. But Fernandez, who is now based in Cebu, rarely watches PBA games live. To see both icons – "El Presidente" and "The Big J" – watch a game live at the venue in 2018 is a special occasion.

Thus, it was quite disappointing that the game they watched didn't quite live up to the hype. Ginebra was trying to tie up the series after a confidence-boosting win in Game 3 last Tuesday, but instead they were ran out of the gym by the Beermen.

"It was a boring game," Fernandez said bluntly. "San Miguel wasn't really playing well, it's just that Ginebra just played really bad. They could play better than that."

Fernandez still enjoyed seeing San Miguel emerge triumphant, but he would have been more entertained by a back-and-forth, cardiac game.

"I didn't really enjoy the game that much," said the center who scored more points than any player in PBA history. "I would have enjoyed if it was a close game, two-point, three-point game, or a one-point game."

If Fernandez was disappointed by the "boring game," then Jaworski was even more so.

"Today, they weren't playing," said Jaworski. "Their focus was not there. I don't know why. Walang focus."

Even the man who embodied Ginebra's "never say die" spirit was hesitant to say if the Gin Kings can pull off a comeback after going down 1-3 in the best-of-seven series. "Hindi sinasabi iyon. Ginagawa," he said emphatically.

"Jawo" pointed out that Ginebra virtually gave San Miguel the opening it needed to pull away.

"Look," said Jaworski. "They're shooting 3s, and you are not even defending. What will happen, 'di ba? They're picking apples, 'yung mga tumitira ng 3s. They have got to work their butts off."

Both PBA legends are hopeful that they can watch a more competitive contest next time. Fernandez said he intends to watch a few games in the finals, even as he is set to fly back to Cebu on Friday night.

Jaworski, for his part, issued some words of wisdom for both the Gin Kings and the Beermen ahead of Game 5.

"In the past, you always want to win, no matter what," he said. "I want to see that because we owe it to the public, to the sponsors, and to the people."

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)