Beermen bust Elite, seal Quarter Finals slot

MANILA, Philippines — Titleholder San Miguel Beer, bucking a poor 0-3 start, is now completely out of the woods.

The Beermen simply asserted themselves against the eliminated, depleted Blackwater side and pulled off an easy 115-106 victory to seal a quarterfinals entry in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.

After tough grinds versus TNT KaTropa and NLEX, the Beermen enjoyed a virtual walk in the park in nailing a sixth win against four losses versus the lackluster Blackwater squad which ended the tourney with a woeful 1-10 win-loss slate.

“We prepared hard for our last two games. We want a strong finish in the elims,” said San Miguel forward Arwind Santos, expressing their desire to win their last two outings to get a better position in the post-elims play.

“We still don’t know in what position we’ll end up. But the important thing is to have a momentum to ride on going to the playoffs,” Santos added.

The Beermen close out their elims stint versus the Magnolia Hotshots on Saturday over at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The reigning champs need to win the game to claim a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinals.

The Elite got off to a strong start, leading by as many as 11 points early on but just couldn’t sustain the pace with their crippled lineup minus key players Epoy Erram and Mac Belo.

With their early exit in the mid-season tourney, coach Bong Ramos and his troops are set to compete in club tourneys in Indonesia and in Macau in preparation for the Governors Cup.

Santos produced 23 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in 25 minutes of action off the bench while starting wing guy Marcio Lassiter drained four three-pointers and a total of 18 markers that went with six assists and one rebound.

Later in the night, Wayne Chism marked another PBA return with a 27-point game while Paul Lee came through with 21 markers as Magnolia repulsed NLEX, 116-89, to tie GlobalPort and Barangay Ginebra at sixth place at 5-5 with two play dates left in the elims.

Phoenix Fuel, at 4-6, fights for dear life versus Alaska Milk tomorrow at the Cuneta Astrodome. The Batang Pier, the Kings and the Hotshots gain outright quarters entry if the Fuel Masters drop their game against the Aces.

The scores: 

First Game

San Miguel 115 – Santos 23, Lassiter 18, Nabong 13, Balkman 12, Cabagnot 12, Fajardo 10, Heruela 10, Ross 7, Pessumal 6, Mamaril 2, Vigil 2, Rosser 0.

Blackwater 106 –Walker 26, Digregorio 19, Pinto 13, Zamar 11, Banal 11, Al-Hussaini 10, Jose 6, Sena 4, Javier 2, Palma 2, Cortez 2, Maliksi 0.

Quarterscores: 28-34, 57-49, 84-70, 115-106

Second Game

Magnolia 116 – Chism 27, Lee 21, Barroca 15, Ramos 11, Jalalon 10, Brondial 10, Sangalang 9, Mendoza 5, Melton 3, Reavis 2, Dela Rosa 2, Herndon 1, Simon 0, Abundo 0. 

NLEX 89 – Ashaolu 31, Tallo 19, Buenafe 12, Quiñahan 9, Ighalo 6, Soyud 6, Uyloan 3, Tiongson 2, Baguio 1, Marcelo 0, Monfort 0, Rios 0, Gotladera 0.

Quarterscores: 34-18, 54-40, 85-77, 116-89