Arwind Santos. PHOTO BY TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net
SAN MIGUEL Beer, with its two Most Valuable Players dominating action underneath, was in complete command against TNT Saturday night and posted a 97-84 victory that gave the Beermen at least a playoff for an outright Final Four slot in the Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup.
Arwind Santos, the 2013 MVP, and June Mar Fajardo, reigning back-to-back MVP, were virtually unstoppable against the relatively smaller and younger Tropang Texters frontline in the Petron Saturday Special game at Smart Araneta Coliseum, finishing with double-doubles in leading the Beermen to a 9-1 record.
The Texters dropped to 5-4 and are now tied for fifth spot with Barangay Ginebra, their place in the upper half for a twice-to-beat privilege now on shaky ground.
Santos finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds, while Fajardo, who came off a rather listless outing against NLEX, had 22 and 15 as the Beermen led by as many as 19 points and had no trouble handling a late TNT rally.
Even with the Beermen a full two games ahead of second-running Alaska and Rain or Shine, they would still need to win their last game against the Aces on Wednesday to avoid complications of a playoff.
“They (Beermen) realized the importance of this game for us,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “If we play this way and maintain our focus on offense and defense, we have a chance (against the Aces).”
The Elasto Painters are favored to win over NLEX and then Meralco to close out their elimination round schedule, and, in the event of a San Miguel loss to Alaska, would tab No. 1 seeding and the first outright semifinal spot
And should Alaska win its last assignment, which will be against short-handed Barako Bull on Saturday, the Aces would then forge a knockout match with the Beermen for the second automatic Final Four berth.
That scenario would have all three teams finishing with 9-2 slates, Rain or Shine with a superior quotient and Alaska and San Miguel battling it out for No. 2.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra tries to solidify its position for the first phase when it clashes with NLEX at 5:15 p.m. today also at the Big Dome. Star shoots for a quarterfinal berth against Barako Bull at 3 p.m.
In yesterday’s first game, Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle bailed GlobalPort out against Mahindra, with a 118-116 overtime victory giving the Batang Pier a 7-3 record.
The Enforcers lost a third straight game to be at 2-8.
The scores:
First Game
GLOBALPORT 118—Pringle 29, Romeo 29, Mamaril 12, Washington 12, Yeo 11, Kramer 10, Semerad 7, Maierhofer 6, Uyloan 2, Pena 0, Sumang 0.
MAHINDRA 116—Ramos 24, Dehesa 23, Digregorio 19, Yee 14, Guinto 11, Pascual 9, Canaleta 6, Laure 5, Pinto 4, Bagatsing 1, Hubalde 0.
Quarters: 23-22, 44-49, 79-72, 103-103 (reg.), 118-116
Second Game
SAN MIGUEL 97—Santos 30, Fajardo 22, Cabagnot 21, Lutz 12, Espinas 4, Heruela 3, Tubid 3, De Ocampo 2, Arana 0, Lassiter 0, Ross 0.
TNT 84—Castro 20, Rosario 17, Tautuaa 14, Williams 12, Reyes 7, Miranda 5, Carey 4, Fonacier 3, Rosser 2, Aban 0.
Quarters: 29-17, 46-35, 71-61, 97-84