STRAIGHT TO THE SEMIS FOR SAN MIGUEL BEER
There was no denying San Miguel Beer this time. And with Tropical Storm Ruby weakening considerably not to cause a postponement and Blackwater unable to muster a strong challenge, the flickering hopes of Alaska and Talk ‘N Text to contend for the second outright semifinal berth in the PBA Philippine Cup drifted away with the departing winds.
To say that clinching the all-important ninth win was a breeze for the Beermen would be stretching the obvious, but the expected token resistance from the Elite was quickly snuffed out Tuesday night as Ronald Tubid scored 18 points and Sol Mercado added 15 in a 91-62 rout at the close of eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome.
San Miguel Beer decisively rebounded from a 107-101 loss to Talk ‘N Text last Friday that stalled the Beermen’s bid to join Rain or Shine in bypassing the quarterfinal playoffs and resuscitated TNT and Alaska’s dreams of making it to the Final Four ahead of two other teams 10 days from now.
Having beaten Rain or Shine, 87-79, six weeks ago, the Beermen thus secured the top seed in the playoffs and a place in one of the two best-of-7 semis series one which starts Dec. 18 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Alaska and TNT, tied with 8-3 cards, wound up No. 3 and No. 4 in the standings and, along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the winner of the Meralco-Globalport game, will hold twice-to-beat advantages against matchup rivals Purefoods, Barako Bull, NLEX and the loser of the Batang Pier-Bolt tussle in the two-phase playoffs which begin Thursday also at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“Naudlot lang nung natalo sa Talk ‘N Text, pero nagging wake-up call yon sa’min pa i-correct ang mga mistakes namin,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.
The break, Austria said, will afford them precious time to heal from some injuries and to experiment on new ideas.
“It’s time for us to recuperate,” he said. “We have so many things to do and we need different outlook sa mga kalaban namin. The semis will be a different ballgame.”
It was the first time in 20 years San Miguel Beer topped the elims of the all-Filipino conference, and it came three days before the 25th anniversary of the franchise’s 1989 Grand Slam feat.
From 19-13 at the end of the first quarter, SMB, which finished the elims with a 9-2 slate, broke away, 50-31, at halftime and never looked back. Blackwater, winless in 11 games on its maiden conference, gave little pursuit, with Eddie Laure the only Elite in double figures.
Mercado and Marcio Lassiter combined for 16 of SMB’s 31 points in the second period, with the Beermen leading by as many as 31 points. Mercado finished with seven of his 15 points in the period while Lassiter had all his nine points. (WJRHT)
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL BEER 91 – Tubid 18, Mercado 15, Fajardo 14, Lassiter 9, Santos 9, Pascual 6, Lutz 5, Chua 4, Maierhofer 2, Ross 2, Fortuna 2, Omolon 2, Semerad 2, Kramer 1.
BLACKWATER 62 – Laure 10, Nuyles 9, Faundo 8, Tiongson 7, Timberlake 6, Austria 5, Erram 4, Acuna 4, Celiz 3, Ballesteros 3, Gamalinda 3, Artadi 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13, 50-31, 70-45, 91-62.
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