BEERMEN NEAR OUTRIGHT SEMIS ENTRY
Perhaps, the sad news of Samboy Lim’s collapse in an exhibition game nearby was the bigger mental stress faced by the San Miguel Beer team in this evening.
The Beermen stayed fluid and sharp as they closed in on an outright semifinal passage in the PBA Philippine Cup with a relatively easy 88-77 win over the Meralco Bolts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
Junmar Fajardo and his teammates established control in the second quarter and breezed through to their fifth straight win and their eighth in nine games in all.
San Miguel stayed abreast with Alaska Milk atop the leader board, needing only a win either against Talk n Text or Blackwater to formalize a Top Two finish that would guarantee the Beermen of an automatic Final Four entry.
Fajardo churned out double-double numbers (21 points and 12 rebounds) for the ninth game in a row as the Beermen relegated the Bolts to joint seventh with the Globalport Batang Pier at 4-5.
Coach Norman Black and his troops need to sweep their last two games versus Kia and Globalport to get a shot at a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarters.
It was a good evening for the Beermen except the news of Lim’s collapse in a Legends Game over at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
San Miguel officials were advised of the incident at halftime of the SMB-Meralco tiff.
A basketball great who spent all his PBA playing years with San Miguel Beer, Lim fell unconscious on the sideline moments after being substituted in their game against the Resorts World team that was being coached by Pido Jarencio
Doctors at the Medical City were still trying to revive Lim at posting time.
“The game had just started. He (Lim) had played about five to six minutes and had just been subbed by Vince Hizon when he collapsed,” Bogs Adornado told the pba.ph.
After the Beermen had disposed of the Bolts, the news was that Lim was still unconscious
“Pinagdadasal namin siya,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. (SB)
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