SMB nails 13th straight

PAOLO Hubalde drives past Stanley Pringle of Indonesia Warriors at Ynares Sports Arena. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

THE SAN Miguel Beermen averted a near-collapse to down the Indonesia Warriors, 70-66, last night and clinch homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs in the Asean Basketball League at Y nares Sports Arena.

Val Acuña and Brian Williams hit 15 points apiece while Asi Taulava delivered another solid performance for the Beermen with 12 points and nine rebounds as San Miguel nailed a 13th straight victory and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with three games to spare.

Taulava hit two charities with seven seconds left, sealing San Miguel’s 16th win against three losses. The Warriors dropped to 13-6, but remained on track to clinching the No. 2 seed.

The Warriors rallied from 52-65 and came within a point at 66-67 on a triple by Filipino import Jerick Cañada with 56 seconds remaining.

But the Beermen bottled up import Steven Thomas on the next play, before Cañada missed a desperation triple leading to the split by Paolo Hubalde for the final count.

The scores:
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN 70—Acuna 15, B. Williams 15, Taulava 12, J. Williams 8, Hubalde 8, Avenido 6, Cawaling 2, Rizada 2, Thiele 2, Fortuna 0.
INDONESIA WARRIORS 66—Thomas 18, Pringle 15, Wuysang 13, Canada 9, Daniels 9, Prihantono 2, Smith 0.
Quarters: 19-7, 42-27, 56-48, 70-66