Beermen bag No. 8 in a row
SAN Miguel Beer’s Ronald Tubid (top) looks for a safe spot to land after biting on the shot fake by Blackwater’s Robby Celis in yesterday’s game at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
San Miguel Beer roared to the longest winning streak in the PBA this season and closed in on the top seed in the Governors’ Cup playoffs after mowing down Blackwater, 115-83, Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Arizona Reid completed a triple-double in the lopsided contest as the Beermen played without letup right from the start to notch an eighth straight victory after opening up the conference with two straight defeats.
Reid tallied 39 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds and three locals backed him up with twin-digit scores as the Beermen helped deal the also-ran Elite (1-8) a fifth straight defeat.
“People were saying that we don’t need this win, but I cannot stop the players from playing,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “They want to play. We want good momentum (going) to the playoffs.”
The victory allowed the Beermen to temporarily wriggle out of a first-place tie with idle Alaska (7-2). Both will tangle later this week for what could be the No. 1 spot.
Marqus Blakely scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Star to a 105-93 win over Talk ‘N Text in the nightcap that kept the defending champion Hotshots in the running for a playoff berth.
Joe Devance scored 16 and Justin Melton also came off the bench to toss in 16 to help the Hotshots rise to 4-5, now in eighth spot, while dealing the Tropang Texters a sixth loss in 10 games and in danger of missing the cut.
The eliminations topnotcher would have the lightest assignment in the first round of the playoffs —against No. 8. The first four seeds would need to win just once over lower-ranked foes to make the Final Four.
Blackwater was held to just 14 points in the first period as the Beermen broke the game wide open early, leading by as large as 29.
The scores:
First Game
SAN MIGUEL 115—Reid 39, Fajardo 20, Lassiter 17, Tubid 13, Santos 9, Lutz 6, Reyes 5, Ross 2, Fortuna 2, Omolon 2, Cabagnot 0, Espinas 0, Semerad 0.
BLACKWATER 83—Cousin 25, Heruela 15, Cervantes 11, Reyes 7, Faundo 6, Erram 6, Gamalinda 4, Bulawan 3, Celiz 2, Ballesteros 2, Timberlake 0, Golla 0, Acuna 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarters: 32-14, 59-42, 80-67, 115-83
Second Game
STAR 105—Blakely 26, Devance 19, Melton 16, Simon 15, Mallari 11, Pingris 8, Barroca 5, Yap 5.
TALK ‘N TEXT 93—De Ocampo 21, Fonacier 20, Pettigrew 18, Castro 17, Daghles 7, Williams 4, Washington 2, Rosser 2, Seigle 2, Carey 0, Reyes Ryan 0.
Quarters: 20-25, 45-44, 73-65, 105-93
