Beermen eye 8th in row vs Slingers

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer seeks to continue its dominating ways as it goes for its eighth straight win against Jobstreet.com Singapore in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena.

The Beermen (11-3) have beaten the Slingers (5-10) in four previous meetings, 66-55, 73-53, 68-61, and 78-57, and are heavily favored to repeat in the 4 p.m. match.

“As I’ve been saying, I am satisfied with how we are running the system, particularly in defense. Actually, the reason why we sustained our run is because of defense. And of course, good defense has fueled our offense,” coach Leo Austria, whose team is dedicating this campaign to his predecessor, Bobby Parks, who passed away last month.

Bolstering the already formidable defensive trio of Justin Williams, Brian Williams and Asi Taulava is the return of Erik Menk from a nose injury as together, they make life miserable for their opponents in the shaded lane.

On the offensive side, SMB is expected to get production from Chris Banchero, as well as last year’s MVP Leo Avenido, JR Cawaling, RJ Rizada, Paolo Hubalde and Val Acuna.

“It’s great that we already have a full lineup going into the last month of the eliminations. We really need all hands on deck when we try to finish with enough momentum going into the playoffs,” Austria said.

After Singapore, San Miguel will play against Saigon Heat (April 17), Westports Malaysia (April 19), Chang Thailand (April 24), Saigon Heat (April 27), Indonesia Warriors (May 3), Sports Rev Thailand Slammers (May 11) and Westport Malaysia (May 17).

The Beermen will have an added advantage in that they will play four of these remaining games at home.