Beermen, Kings set up dream duel

MANILA, Philippines — The reigning Philippine Cup kingpin and the current Commissioner’s Cup ruler clash in an explosive best-of-five dispute for a ticket to the PBA Governors’ Cup finals.

Second seed and twice-to-beat San Miguel Beer, the All-Filipino champs, took care of business by making quick work of No. 7 Converge, 121-105, in the quarterfinal opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Similarly cashing in on its win-once quarterfinal incentive, No. 3 Barangay Ginebra, winner of the second conference, finished off an import-less sixth-ranked NLEX, 127-93, to seal the Final Four entanglement with SMB and also keep its Governors’ Cup three-peat bid rolling.

The Beermen banked on a 37-24 third-quarter surge to set the tone for the runaway semis-clincher over the FiberXers and repeat the outcome of their Last-8 matchup in the previous conference.

Cameron Clark banged in 40 points, including 16 in their telling breakaway, to go with 13 rebounds and three steals in leading SMB to the next round.

Vic Manuel, stepping up in the absence of June Mar Fajardo, produced a 20-point game spiked by a spotless 9-of-9 shooting to back up Clark and second top scorer CJ Perez (26).

The Beermen pulled it off despite limited time to plot against Tom Vodanovich, the New Zealand Tall Blacks mainstay who took over from Jamaal Franklin just two days ago. Vodanovich shot 39.

Meanwhile, Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee posted 31-13-6 while Christian Standhardinger and Jamie Malonzo dropped 20 apiece in quickly dispatching NLEX, which badly missed import Wayne Selden due to a foot sprain.