INQUIRER Sports

GAMES SUNDAY (Araneta Coliseum)
4:15 p.m.?Ginebra vs. Rain or Shine
6:30 p.m.?San Miguel vs. Burger King

MANILA, Philippines - The Burger King Whoopers unleashed their finest game of the series on a day when coach Yeng Guiao said they were at their ?most vulnerable.?

Shrugging off a double-overtime loss in Game 4 and the absence of three players, the Whoppers put up a solid effort on both ends to topple San Miguel, 103-90, Friday night and stay alive in their best-of-seven semifinal series in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

?There was no way the players felt they were going to lose today,? Guiao said after the Whoppers, who suffered a heart-rending 120-119 double overtime loss Wednesday night, sliced the Beermen?s lead in the series, 3-2.

?We had a simple objective today. We wanted to keep the game close and stretch the series.?

The Beermen were within striking distance in the first three quarters, before the Whoppers broke away in the second half, behind guards Gary David, Wynne Arboleda and Egay Billones.

Arboleda torched the Beermen with five triples on his way to a conference-high 23 points as Burger King bucked the absence of the suspended Mark Yee and injured players JR Quiñahan and Cholo Villanueva.

?We always have someone suspended and I think the next in line is myself,? said Guiao, who was fined by P83,600 by the league Monday for berating the referees in their Game 3 loss.

?But the guys are able to make up for it anyway.?

Billones provided the flash of inspiration off the bench hitting eight straight points, including back-to-back triples that gave the Whoppers their first double-digit lead, 74-64, with three minutes left in the third.

San Miguel never got closer than two points from there. Olsen Racela buried a triple from the corner to cut the lead, 78-80, with 10:50 left, before Billones responded with a triple and Erick Rodriguez beat everyone else for a putback that perhaps characterized the Whoppers tenacious effort.

Burger King outrebounded San Miguel, 53-43, and forced more turnovers, 20-12.

David and rookie Beau Belga, who will be suspended for Game 6 after committing his fourth Flagrant 1 foul in the conference in Game 4, combined for 11 straight points to put away the Beermen, 103-87, with 2:12 remaining.

?This win gives us confidence for Game 6 on Sunday,? said Guiao.

Burger King weathered San Miguel?s early surge that saw the Beermen post a 16-7 lead four minutes into the game. Mick Pennisi had three triples in the first period, but was held to just two points the rest of the way.

The Whoppers took San Miguel import Gabe Freeman out of his sweet spots in the fourth period as the San Miguel import scored just two points, after picking up 27 in the first three periods.

The scores:

First Game

BURGER KING 103?Arboleda 23, David 17, Daniels 12, Billones 11, Rodriguez 10, Belga 9, Aban 8, Santos 8, Cruz 5, Sharma 0.

SAN MIGUEL 90?Freeman 29, Cortez 13, Pingris 11, Pennisi 11, Racela 6, Ildefonso 6, Villanueva 5, Hontiveros 5, Pena 4, Custodio 0, Washington 0.

Quarters: 29-31, 52-52, 78-75, 103-90