INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE) It took San Miguel little time to shake off the rust and bring Burger King to its knees last night and make the Beermen open up their best-of-seven semifinal series in the Motolite Fiesta Cup with a 102-87 thrashing of the Whoppers at the Araneta Coliseum.

Gabriel Freeman scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his first game back, leading the Beermen to the lopsided victory that few saw coming and one which San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen readily dismissed as ?one game.?

?Knowing coach Yeng (Guiao of Burger King), with his experience, he?s going to get his team ready for the next game,? Tanquingcen said. ?I?m pretty sure they will come up with something else (for Game 2).

?It?s just one game. You can win by a point or by a lot and it?s still one game,? he added. ?We need four games to win the series.?

San Miguel broke away late in the second period, turning a 29-33 deficit into a 45-37 advantage at the half before sustaining the heat the rest of the way with Tanquingcen getting contributions from practically everyone.

The Beermen then scored 34 points in the third quarter and made it ugly early in the fourth when unanswered baskets by Dondon Hontiveros and Mike Cortez inside the first 1:20 of the period made it an 83-61 game.

Burger King was able to chop that down to 12 using its second unit, as rookie Mark Yee completed a three-point play off Hontiveros with 6:13 to go to make it 87-75.

But that proved to be the Whoppers? last gasp as a cluster of eight unanswered points restored a 20-point lead which totally took the fight out of Burger King and made the team looking every bit like the underdog that it is.

So everyone who worried that San Miguel might come into the series cold and rusty because of a break of more than three weeks got a loud answer. And from the way Burger King played, it seemed as if it was the Whoppers who were away for long.

?It was hard to get a good rhythm at the start, but the players played through it,? Tanquingcen explained.

Burger King was not helped by the fact that National team swingman Arwind Santos and Gary David played one of their worst games in the tournament, with Santos held to just five points and six rebounds and David hitting just seven on 1-of-9 shooting from the field.

Freeman missed San Miguel?s last two games of the eliminations when coaching staff decided to try out journeyman Chris Williams even if the Beermen went great guns with their young reinforcement.

Wednesday night?s game was a statement for Freeman, who played just 31 minutes and also had two steals, a block and an assist while providing the intimidating presence underneath.

Jay Washington scored 17 points, Hontiveros finished with 14 and Ildefonso had 10 before being ejected for taunting after a tomahawk dunk which capped that 8-0 spurt with 6:13 left in the contest.

JR Quinahan led the Whoppers with 17, Yee had 16, while Shawn Daniels had 12 points and 11 rebounds before being rested for most of the fourth quarter when the Beermen were already way ahead.

Meanwhile, a hungry and determined Rain or Shine made its first semifinal game in franchise history memorable.

The Elasto Painters, down to 10 healthy men in the second half, stuck close to Barangay Ginebra before playing better in the stretch to pound out a 101-95 upset of the defending champion Gin Kings at the start of their Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup Final Four series last night.

Rob Wainwright scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, including the go-ahead triple with 1:36 left as the Elasto Painters silenced a huge pro-Ginebra crowd at the Araneta Coliseum to go one-up and gain a psychological edge of sorts.

?You don?t win a series in the first game,? Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia told sportswriters later.

But the win did not come without a price as the Painters lost another vital element in their rotation in Ryan Araña, the second-year swingman out of La Salle who sustained a fractured right wrist in the second quarter.

Araña followed Solomon Mercado in the decommissioned list after Garcia tried playing his rookie guard whom he feared aggravated an old hamstring injury.

Gabe Norwood added 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and big Jai Lewis delivered 14 points, 16 boards and three assists.

The Scores:
First Game
SAN MIGUEL 102 - Freeman 22, Washington 17, Hontiveros 14, Ildefonso 10, Pennisi 7, Pena 7, Pingris 6, Racela 6, Custodio 5, Villanueva 4, Bono 2, Cortez 2, Gonzales 0

BURGER KING 87 - Quinahan 17, Yee 16, Daniels 12, Rodriguez 11, David 7, Arboleda 7, Santos 5, Cruz 4, Aban 4, Sharma 4, Billones 0.
Quarters: 24-22, 45-37, 79-59, 102-87.

Second Game
RAIN OR SHINE 101?Wainwright 20, Norwood 16, Lewis 14, Reyes 13, Dulay 12, Tang 8, Arana 6, Ibanes 6, Isip 4, Ejercito 2, Mercado 0, Salangsang 0.

BRGY. GINEBRA 95?Tubid 21, Noel 16, Heltebrand 15, Mamaril 13, Baguio 9, Lanete 8, Intal 8, Reavis 5, Kramer 0, Artadi 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarters: 21-23, 41-49, 72-75, 101-95