SMB win keeps Ginebra alive

ANTIPOLO — San Miguel Beer came to the aid of a sister team last night as it stopped Shell, 76-58, to keep Barangay Ginebra in strong contention for the Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup quarterfinals at the Ynares Sports Center here.

The Beermen came out flat but finished strong, foiling the Turbochargers’ bid to move a win short of an outright playoff for the last seat in the quarters.

But Shell kept a half-game lead over Ginebra as the Red Bull Thunder walloped the Kings, 101-83, in the nightcap. The Turbochargers are now at 5-11 while the Kings at 5-12.

Shell and Ginebra were left to dispute the last quarterfinals berth with FedEx ousting Purefoods last Wednesday to complete the quarters cast in Group A. Red Bull, Talk N Text and Coca-Cola, meanwhile, have long clinched the first three quarters slots in Group B.

In another development, PBA commissioner Noli Eala said they will continue with their program against illegal drugs in the league despite a threat of legal action from Talk N Text player Norman Gonzales.

"We’ll not be threatened. We challenged them to go to court if they want but we’ll not cancel our program. We believe our drug testing program has legal basis. We have moral ground to conduct it," said Eala.

Eala was reacting to a letter from Gonzales’ legal counsel, Efren Hipolito, Wednesday asking the PBA to reinstate the player within five days or they will bring the case to the court.

Gonzales was suspended indefinitely by the Commissioner’s Office after testing positive for ecstacy in a random drug test.

The Talk N Text forward denied ever taking illegal drugs and suspected the food supplement he was taking was mistaken for a drug substance.