Beermen pummel Texters, gain 1-0 lead

MANILA, Philippines -- Two weeks after a six-point loss to Talk n Text, San Miguel Beer got back hard at its tormentor, unrelenting and unforgiving in turning to a huge mismatch, 109-86, Game One of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Friday night.

The Beermen showed up as the playoffs top seeds that they are, stopping the Tropang Texters on their track as Junmar Fajardo and company resumed their bid to give San Miguel a first all-Filipino finals appearance in four years.

San Miguel made the most on the advantages the team had on the imposing inside presence of Fajardo, utterly dominating Talk n Text in the last 30 minutes of the contest.

It was a rout but not lacking in drama, including collisions and confrontations that netted a double-technical foul and three flagrant foul penalty one infractions.

It could be a lot more intense as the two teams clash in Game Two at 5 p.m. on Sunday in the same playing venue.

This Saturday, Alaska Milk seeks a commanding two-game lead versus Rain or Shine in their own Final Four faceoff.

“We lost to them the last time and we woke up from that loss,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria, an ABL champion coach winning his first ever PBA semis game.

“My boys really tried to win this one as they knew the importance of this game,” Austria also said.

San Miguel’s demolition of Talk n Text started in the second quarter with Arwind Santos scoring 10 points to spark a turnaround that saw the Beermen wipe out a seven-point deficit and zoom away, 56-36, at the half.

And there’s simply no stopping the Beermen in the last final half.

The double-T drawn by Santos and Harvey Carey, Ranidel de Ocampo’s flagrant foul on Santos and the hard exchanges of Danny Seigle and David Semerad hardly affected San Miguel’s searing momentum.

The Texters hit the wall after winning their last six games, including their quarters knockout match with the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

Coach Jong Uichico and his team hardly had a chance versus the Beermen with Fajardo, Santos and returning Beerman Alex Cabagnot all churning out solid games.

Fajardo came through with 23 points and 10 rebounds, Santos got away with 21 markers, eight boards and three assists while Cabagnot marked his SMB comeback with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Rejuvenated by a 10-day respite, San Miguel as a whole looked to be always a step ahead, crushing Talk n Text practically on all fronts of the game.

Down by seven, 20-27, at the end of the first quarter, the Beermen clamped down on defense in the second period, and Talk n Text broke down never to recover.

The Beermen severely punished the Texters, 33-9, in the second period, pulling away in holding Talk n Text without a single field goal in the last 6:20.

De Ocampo went 4-of-4 from the field for 11 points while Kevin Alas scored on a tough left-handed layup off Rico Maierhofer just before the buzzer sounded as Talk n Text led by seven in the opening canto.

Santos banged in two treys and slammed home a dish by Fajardo to spark SMB’s decisive second-quarter turnaround.

De Ocampo was called for a flagrant infraction as he appeared to undercut Santos on his way down after hanging onto the rim.

Earlier, Santos and Harvey Carey were called a double-technical foul.

Towards the end of the game, Seigle tackled down Semerad, then the SMB rookie retaliated by kicking the TnT veteran.

NOTES: Junmar Fajardo looks well on his way to becoming only the second player to win the Philippine Cup BPC award for two consecutive years as the SMB center stayed firmly on top in the stats race through the quarterfinals. If ever, Fajardo will duplicate the feat done by former SMB star Nelson Asaytono in 1997 and 1998. Fajardo leads all comers with a whopping stats average of 41.2. Calvin Abueva is at second with 35.8, followed by Arwind Santos (33), Greg Slaughter (32.8) and Alex Cabagnot (31.7). Significantly, the Cebuano behemoth also leads the league in scoring (18.5 points per game), rebounding (12.7 rpg) and blocks (2.3).