Beermen stay alive sans import, extend series vs Painters

MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel Beer sacked erring import Tyler Wilkerson but didn’t give up the fight, turning to the team’s old reliable gunners and fighting spirit to hack out a stirring 104-98 victory and force a Game Four in their Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four showdown at the Philsports Arena Thursday night.

Without an import and all the distractions they were facing, the Beermen went to Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos who responded with A-1 performances to reduce their deficit to 1-2 in the best-of-five semifinal series.

The Beermen, however, still need to win two in a row to salvage the series and stay on course for a possible third straight championship.

They have to do it with a new import since the team has terminated the services of Wilkerson, the Best Import leading contender until he threw tantrums in the closing minutes of Game Two.

San Miguel is bringing in a new import by Saturday or before Game Four set Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meanwhile, Alaska Milk and Meralco slug it out in what could well be another defense-versus-offense battle, disputing the 2-1 lead in their side of the semifinals Friday night at the Big Dome.

Meralco broke Alaska’s defensive wall on Jared Dillinger’s outside sniping and Chris Newsome’s penetrations in the fourth quarter as the Bolts came from behind to pull off a 92-87 decision and forge a 1-1 tie in the series Wednesday.

“We’ve got to make the outside shots. We’ve got to shoot without hesitation as they’re really loading up on Arinze (Onuaku),” said Dillinger, saving the Bolts from falling to a 0-2 hole on his 13-point fourth-quarter explosion in Game Two.

Marcio Lassiter erupted for 30 points including five three-pointers, Alex Cabagnot exploded for 28 markers spiked by two treys while Arwind Santos sizzled with 18 points including four triples as the Beermen lived to fight another game.

“I have to praise my players. They willed to win in the absence of an import. They proved something,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“It would be very hard to win three straight games without an import. We’re lucky to win today or we would’ve already be instead joining the Boracay Cup. I hope this would be a rallying point for the team,” Austria also said.

Minus Wilkerson and his whopping averages of 36.6 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.4 steals, the Beermen banked on sheer guts and determination to turn back the E-Painters and hulking import Pierre Henderson-Niles.

Also a big key for the Beermen was sending Niles to an early foul-trouble situation that limited him to 29:25 minutes of action where he put in seven points, 11 rebounds and two assists against five turnovers.

The E-Painters, with a career-best game from Jericho Cruz plus solid efforts from Maverick Ahanmisi, Paul Lee and JR Quinahan, had looked poised to ending the series as they opened a 60-51 lead at the start of the second half.

But Cabagnot, Lassiter and Santos strung up six straight three-pointers from there, lighting up a decisive attack that turned the tide in SMB’s favor, 80-67.

In the crunch, the Beermen made key stoppages to stay alive and keep their hopes for a rare treble.

Rain or Shine enjoyed a 53-51 edge at the end of the tight first half marked by a fierce shootout between gunners of both teams.

Cruz, Ahanmisi and Lee combined for 6-of-7 three-pointers and a total of 30 points for the E-Painters while Cabagnot, Lassiter and Santos fired four treys and a total of 34 markers in the first 24 minutes of play.

Lassiter, with a horrendous 2-of-20 field shooting Games One and Two, sizzled with a 6-of-9 clip just in the first half in this contest.

“Even if Wilkerson was scoring in the 40s, 50s, I can see my locals are not happy,” said Austria.