Beermen take 1-0 lead over Talk ‘N Text in PBA Philippine Cup semifinal round
Game today:
Mall of Asia Arena
7 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Alaska
What was expected to be a tight battle turned out to be anything but as the top-seeded San Miguel Beermen asserted themselves early and often to rout the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, 109-86, in Game 1 of the best-of-seven semifinals series in the PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Cebuano giant June Mar Fajardo, the league’s reigning MVP, and versatile forward Arwind Santos led the Beermen’s multi-faceted offensive with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and 21 markers and eight boards, respectively.
Alex Cabagnot, in his first game back with the Beermen since being traded from GlobalPort, had a complete game with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The win gave the Beermen a 1-0 advantage in their long semifinal duel.
The Beermen led by seven after the first, 27-20, but blasted the Texters, 33-9 in the second canto to run away with the lead, which reached a high of 33 markers.
Santos fueled the breakaway, scoring 10 in that stretch off two triples, a huge slam dunk and two free-throws, that helped the Beermen establish a 53-36 lead at halftime.
Ranidel de Ocampo scored 20 points to pace Talk ‘N Text.
ACES EYE 2-0
Meanwhile, the Alaska Aces gun for a 2-0 series lead in their semis match-up against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters tonight at the same venue.
Alaska took Game 1 of their series with an 87-80 win over the tough Rain or Shine squad.
Despite leading by as many as 17, the Elasto Painters floundered in the end via a 14-3 Alaska run that put the game away.
The win snapped the Elasto Painters’ seven-game win streak but head coach Yeng Guiao said he isn’t worried.
“May chance ka pang maka recover so okay na rin ‘yun,” Guiao told pba.inquirer.net. “Kaya ‘di naman ako nagagalit. Siguro, it comes with the feeling that we will still be okay.”
Guiao is also optimistic since his team has been placed in this same situation against the same Alaska squad last conference. The Painters dropped the opening game but went on to win, 3-2.
“We have to draw from our knowledge that we’ve been here before and we’ve been able to come out and finish the series in our favor.”
BOX SCORES:
SAN MIGUEL BEER 109 – Fajardo 23, Santos 21, Cabagnot 13, Lassiter 10, Lutz 7, Tubid 7, Pascual 6, Kramer 5, Semerad 5, Fortuna 4, Omolon 4, Maierhofer 2, Chua 2, Ross 0.
TALK N’ TEXT 86 – De Ocampo 20, Seigle 16, Washington 9, Alapag 7, Rosser 7, Castro 6, Alas 5, Espiritu 5, Williams 4, Carey 3, Fonacier 3, Reyes R.J. 1, Reyes R. 0, Aban 0.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
