INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Arwind Santos scored 33 points and had eight rebounds and Dondon Hontiveros added 21 to lead San Miguel to a 104-89 rout of Barako Bull Sunday night in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.

Santos, the newest all-star acquisition by the Beermen at the start of the season, hit 17 of his total in the first two periods before the rest of the Beermen just kept on firing in the second half to give SMB its sixth straight win.

?We came out well, but we kind of flat-lined in the middle (second period),? San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen said. ?Anybody can beat anybody in this league. The most important thing is to respect your opponent.?

Purefoods later sent Rain or Shine crashing back to reality with a 103-69 rout.

The Elasto Painters, who came into the game fresh from dealing tournament leader Alaska its first loss for their maiden win, took its seventh loss in eight games to remain in the cellar.

Rico Maierhofer had 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Giants, who improved to 4-3.

?Coming into the game, we knew that they were coming off a highly emotional win over Alaska and we really wanted to pounce on their weary legs,? coach Ryan Gregorio said.

Santos scored nine points and Denok Miranda 11 when the Beermen pulled away for good from 72-69.

?He?s something special,? Tanquingcen said of Santos, who came into the game with norms of 16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds.

?The good thing about it is that he knows that he still has a lot of room for improvement.?

After opening up with setbacks to Alaska and Barangay Ginebra, the Beermen have now matched the season?s longest winning streak earlier achieved by the now 6-1 Aces.

The Beermen opened up a 33-14 lead at the start of the second quarter before cooling off somewhat, allowing the Energy Boosters to creep within 45-49 at the half.

It would have been closer had Alex Crisano not foolishly hogged the ball in a fastbreak play with time winding down instead of passing off to a wide open Aris Dimaunahan.

Crisano was benched in the second half.

The scores:

First Game

SAN MIGUEL 104?Santos 33, Hontiveros 21, Miranda 17, Cortez 10, Pennisi 5, Pena 5, Villanueva 4, Tugade 4, Eman 3, Custodio 2, Racela 0, Calaguio 0.

BARAKO BULL 89?Aljamal 21, Hubalde 20, Menor 18, Najorda 10, Dimaunahan 10, Sta. Maria 5, Alonzo 2, Crisano 2, Lao 1, Viray 0, Membrere 0, Belano 0.

Quarters: 31-14, 49-45, 72-69, 104-89

Second Game

PUREFOODS 103?Maierhofer 15, Yap J. 14, Allado 14, Raymundo 13, Artadi 9, Simon 9, Timberlake 8, Canaleta 7, Pingris 7, Salvador 4, Yap R. 3, Reavis 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 69?Arana 20, Norwood 13, Hrabak 11, Mercado 9, Chan 6, Cruz 5, Arellano 2, Reyes 2, Dulay 1, Ibanes 0, Laure 0, Telan 0.

Quarters: 24-17, 47-31, 71-52, 103-69