Quarterfinals race shifts to high gear

MANILA, Philippines — They’re the elite teams tipped to have, by this time in the PBA Governors’ Cup preliminaries, safely landed in the Top 4 of the quarterfinals.

Instead, stymied by major struggles lately, TNT KaTropa (7-3) and  San Miguel Beermen (6-4) clash in a virtual knockout for the last available twice-to-beat incentive tonight at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The KaTropa used to be red-hot, racking up seven consecutive wins before blowing cold in their last three outings, hurt by the sidelining of  injured veteran Jayson Castro.

The grand slam-chasing Beermen are in no better situation, losing three of their last four games after a 5-1 start, and last Sunday, things came to a boil with the reported scuffle involving import Dez Wells and locals Arwind Santos, Kelly Nabong and Ronald Tubid in practice.

Whether this will make the Beermen stronger or more fragmented will be known in the 7 p.m. setto.

Rejuvenated Alaska (4-6), meanwhile, shoots for a quarters-clinching win at 4:30 p.m. against an NLEX (8-2) squad with a lock on No. 1. A setback sends the Aces to a rubbermatch for the eighth and last berth against Columbian Dyip (4-7).

TNT coach Bong Ravena said the KaTropa need to rediscover the form that led to their early success.

“We haven’t played to our standard for three games now so all our efforts now are geared towards solving that,” he said.