Beermen try to sustain drive vs Road Warriors

MANILA, Philippines—Arizona Reid has reversed the string of bad breaks that hounded San Miguel Beer lately.

The Beermen would want to see the momentum sustained against the NLEX Road Warriors Tuesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

“We’re happy with what AZ (Reid) could bring. With him, we’re slowly improving as a team,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

Dropping four games in a row, the Beermen finally saw the light of day after roughing up the Meralco Bolts, 102-86, in Cagayan de Oro City with Reid, a two-time PBA best import, collecting 29 points and 12 rebounds.

The former Rain Or Shine import replaced the inefficient Ronald Roberts Jr., who turned out to be a failure right in his first game.

Lady luck actually came knocking on San Miguel’s door when Meralco import Josh Davis got injured in the third quarter following a collision with June Mar Fajardo in a battle for possession.

Fajardo, who had 21 points and 22 rebounds in the game, will again be a decisive factor as the Beermen deal with the Road Warriors’ scary frontline of the 6-foot-9 Asi Taulava and 6-foot-8 former NBA forward Al Thornton.

“They also have a tall frontline, so we have to be solid in defense and execute our offensive game plan properly,” said Austria.

Equally breathtaking is the matchup between Alaska and Barako Bull in the 7 p.m. mainer.

Aiming to snap out of a funk, the Energy (3-2) attempt to ease the pain caused by Global Port Batang Pier and the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in a pair of successive defeats last week.

They have to contain Alaska’s Damion James in the post to avoid those high-percentage shots that they paid dearly against the Tropang Texters.

James, picked up 24th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2010 NBA Draft, had 28 points and 16 boards in a 99-89 Alaska defeat recently against the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters.

The Road Warriors are also reeling from a previous loss where they climb from 29 points only to sputter against sister squad Talk ‘N Text in the end.

Thornton had his way in the paint with 37 points but the NLEX local crew fared badly with Jonas Villanueva contributing 13 points off the bench and Aldrech Ramos finishing with 10 markers.