Drunken escape

San Miguel Beermen. PBA IMAGES

Dragged to a see-saw game by a weakened enemy that was supposed to fold up early, San Miguel Beer gutted out a character-setting comeback for a win that represented more than the team’s pride.

San Miguel held Alaska scoreless inside the last 1:54 last night and the Beermen bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 93-88 nipping of the severely depleted Aces in a PBA Philippine Cup elimination game at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen scored seven points inside the final 48 seconds to cap the rally from 15 points down and halt the Aces.

It was the second win in three outings for San Miguel. “I have been scared of games like this my entire career—when people expect you to win by a big margin (because of an undermanned opponent),” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “This is not just a win, but a matter of pride for the team.”

Earlier, Meralco rose to 1-1 after getting the goods from Chris Newsome and rookie Ed Daquioag in a 106-93 decision of NLEX. Newsome and Daquioag scored 10 points each in the final frame to finish with 28 and 23 points, respectively.