Another close call for lucky Beermen

The curse of the superstitious associated with Friday the 13th fell on Rain or Shine last week when the Elasto Painters blew a won game and allowed defending champion San Miguel Beer to boost its drive for one of two premium slots in the quarterfinals of the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup.

The Painters led by two points at 96-94 and had possession with 7.2 seconds left but couldn’t put the Beermen away. SMB guard Chris Ross knocked the ball from the hands of Beau Belga after the burly RoS center had received the throw-in near the center court. Alex Cabagnot recovered the loose ball for SMB, sued for time, and, when play resumed, hit a long jumper with 1.08 seconds left to force overtime.

June Mar Fajardo, who is seeking a fourth straight MVP plum this season, took over from there to power the Beermen to a 107-101 victory that raised their league-leading win-loss record to 8-1 with two games left in their schedule.

The loss dropped the Painters into a tie for second with GlobalPort at 5-3 and tightened up the race for the No. 2 position at the end of the eliminations that also carries a twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals like the top qualifier.

It was the second close call for the Beermen in a week fraught with interesting developments. Alaska, last year’s runner-up, also prevailed in overtime over Star, 97-90; GlobalPort flashed its old unforgiving form against NLEX ,110-96; and Mahindra, which earlier seemed destined to finish last, picked up a second straight win with unexpected three-point firepower from unheralded sources in shocking Meralco, 105-92.

SMB also walked the tightrope before escaping with a 72-70 decision of Barangay Ginebra last Jan. 8 when crack guard LA Tenorio missed the tying basket with a running shot near the foul circle. Tenorio atoned for his misdeed the other night in Iloilo City when the Gin Kings rolled back the Bolts, 83-72, and all but shut the qualifying door on Meralco, which fell deeper in the cellar at 2-7.

Alaska (4-4) and TNT KaTropa (4-3), playing Star as of press time, seemed assured of making it to the next round, but a mad scramble to complete the eight-team cast of quarterfinalists looms among Blackwater, Ginebra and Phoenix, which are deadlocked at 4-4.

Star, at 3-4, needs a tremendous finish to crash the Magic 8 while Mahindra (2-5) and NLEX (2-6) seemed out of it unless they stay miraculously unbeaten from here on.

The Hotshots have a relatively light schedule in their last three games (Blackwater on Jan. 25, Meralco on Jan. 28 and Mahindra on Feb. 1).

The last two qualifiers must beat either the No. 1 or No. 2 quarterfinalist in the playoffs twice to advance to the semifinals while it will be No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5 in a best-of-three series to decide the other semifinalists.