INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Defending champion barangay Ginebra and powerhouse San Miguel break their 1-1 ties with separate foes today following contrasting fortunes two nights ago in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Gin Kings slug it out with a Rain or Shine crew at 6:30 p.m., expecting another tough stand from the young Elasto Painters, who have drawn raves in their first Final Four stint despite missing two key players.

San Miguel, meanwhile, tries to bounce back from a stinging Game 2 loss against Burger King in the 4 p.m. contest, looking to get back on track after taking the upset ax in a high-scoring game that was supposedly fit for its talented roster.

?If we can keep the series close, the longer it goes, the better it is for us,? Burger King and Philippine team mentor Yeng Guiao told reporters shortly after a 116-113 victory Friday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

?We just want to hang around long enough,? he said. ?And by doing that, maybe San Miguel will make some mistakes.?

The Beermen did make mistakes in the stretch on Friday and threw away a gallant rally from a 16-point third quarter deficit.

Gabriel Freeman exploded with 34 points in Game 2, but only two locals were able to chip in with twin digit scores for the Beermen, who blew the Whoppers off the floor in the series opener but played with very little trace of that mastery in the next.

Shawn Daniels was as big as his frame for the Whoppers, finishing with 29 points with Arwind Santos shooting 22.

?If we can keep it close, we know we can play them in the endgame,? Guiao explained. ?I think we have enough players who can play crunch time for us.

?Also, I feel that once we open the door with our first win, our confidence is going to be better. It?s important to get our confidence back after a big loss.?

Ginebra?s Jong Uichico, meanwhile, will be busy trying to find out what?s wrong with his Gin Kings, who almost lost Friday in the very same manner that they dropped the first game.

?It?s hard to explain the game, they just kept coming back,? Uichico said. ?They (Elasto Painters) hit timely shots when we tried to blow the game open. But we just kept playing and it could have gone either way. Good thing that we were able to get through this game.

The Kings averted another collapse when import David Noel hit five straight points inside the last two minutes to ice a 103-98 victory.

The Painters will continue to miss key players Solomon Mercado and Ryan Araña, who are out for the season because of injuries.