Embattled Beermen fight for life vs Energy

MANILA, Philippines - Beleaguered San Miguel Beer tries to stave off outright elimination after its Philippine Cup title conquest as it battles Barako Bull even as Kia and Alaska clash in the other duel of struggling teams in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

With only a win to show against six losses, the Beermen languish in the bottom of the 12-team field and are in a must-win against the Energy in their 7 p.m. encounter, hoping to stay in contention at least through the All-Star break this weekend.

“We still have a chance and you can never tell what will happen,” said coach Leo Austria, who steered SMB to the All-Filipino Cup victory in a classic Game Seven duel with Alaska.

But the Beermen seemed to have turned from champions to chumps, dropping their first four games this conference before pulling off a victory over Meralco, partly because the Bolts lost their explosive import to injury in the second quarter.

San Miguel then blew a big lead and lost to NLEX and took another beating from Talk n Text last Sunday to find itself in the cellar.

Still, the Beermen vow to fight to survive.

“For as long as we have a chance, we’ll be there fighting,” said Fil-Am gunner Marcio Lassiter.

“We’re still hopeful that we can salvage the last quarterfinals berth. And if ever ranged against a team with a twice-to-beat advantage (in the quarterfinals), I do believe we would have a chance to make it,” said do-it-all forward Arwind Santos who’s nursing a slight injury.