Beermen grab No. 1 slot; Aces finish 3rd

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SAN MIGUEL Beer grabbed top spot in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations Friday night after working doggedly hard on both ends to clip undermanned Tropang TNT, 104-98, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tyler Wilkerson and June Mar Fajardo took turns in hurting the Texters in the fourth period, combining for all but 10 of the Beermen’s 36 points in the quarter to anchor a torrid San Miguel finish for No. 1 with an 8-3 record.

That means the Beermen will be having the eighth-seeded Star Hotshots as quarterfinal foes, needing to beat them just once to march on to the Final Four.

The loss gave the Texters a 6-5 record, good for sixth spot and a best-of-three clash with the Alaska Aces, who earlier nipped the NLEX Road Warriors, also via a 104-98 score to land the third seeding at 7-4.

Idle Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine also finished with 7-4 records, but after the application of the quotient system, the Gin Kings were ranked No. 4 and the Elasto Painters No. 5. They clash in a separate race-to-two affair, also starting tomorrow, at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Meralco was thus relegated to No. 2 and will play the seventh-ranked Road Warriors, also with a twice-to-beat privilege.

San Miguel played catch-up practically the entire night, as Wilkerson and Fajardo were taken out of their sweet spots by the TNT defense.

The Texters even held a 94-88 lead with 3:51 to play before a Wilkerson triple and two short stabs by the two-time MVP Fajardo shoved the Beermen ahead to stay, 95-94.

Alex Cabagnot then made it a 10-0 bomb for San Miguel with a broken-play triple from deep left corner as the Texters’ third in a series of errors finally doomed them.

“We knew how important this game was for us,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “Losing would have meant playing Ginebra in a best-of-three. I would rather play Star in the quarterfinals and meet Ginebra in the semifinals.”

The Texters missed the services of Jayson Castro who reportedly had stomach virus.

The scores:

First Game

ALASKA 104—Abueva 23, Thoss 19, Jazul 18, Dozier 14, Manuel 12, Baguio 7, Banchero 3, Exciminiano 3, Hontiveros 3, Dela Rosa 2, Baclao 0, Dela Cruz 0, Menk 0.

NLEX 98—Thornton 37, Anthony 24, Taulava 11, Enciso 9, Villanueva J. 7, Lanete 6, Borboran 2, Reyes 2, Alas 0, Arboleda 0, Cardona 0, Khobuntin 0, Villanueva E. 0, Camson 0.

Quarters: 34-14, 51-45, 76-74, 104-98

Second Game

SAN MIGUEL 104—Wilkerson 36, Fajardo 18, Cabagnot 10, Lassiter 10, Ross 10, De Ocampo 7, Santos 7, Arana 4, Semerad 2, Espinas 0, Lutz 0, Tubid 0.

TROPANG TNT 98—Simon 32, Rosario 14, Tautuaa 10, Williams 10, De Ocampo 9, Ababou 6, Rosser 6, Reyes J. 4, Reyes R. 3, Carey 2, Fonacier 2.

Quarters: 19-20, 43-45, 68-72, 104-98