BEERMEN, KINGS SET UP DREAM DUEL
Games Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 3 p.m. – Phoenix vs TNT 5:45 p.m. – Magnolia vs Meralco
The reigning Philippine Cup kingpin and the current Commissioner’s Cup ruler clash in an explosive best-of-five dispute for a ticket to the PBA Governors’ Cup finals.
Second seed and twice-to-beat San Miguel Beer, the All-Filipino champs, took care of business by making quick work of No. 7 Converge, 121-105, in the quarterfinal opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Similarly cashing in on its winonce quarterfinal incentive, No. 3 Barangay Ginebra, winner of the second conference, finished off an import-less sixth-ranked NLEX, 127-93, to seal the Final Four entanglement with SMB and also keep its Governors’ Cup three-peat bid rolling.
The Beermen banked on a 37-24 third-quarter surge to set the tone for the runaway semis-clincher over the FiberXers and repeat the outcome of their Last-8 matchup in the previous conference.
Cameron Clark banged in 40 points, including 16 in their telling breakaway, to go with 13 rebounds and three steals in leading SMB to the next round.
Vic Manuel, stepping up in the absence of June Mar Fajardo, produced a 20-point game spiked by a spotless 9-of-9 shooting to back up Clark and second top scorer CJ Perez (26).
The Beermen pulled it off despite limited time to plot against Tom Vodanovich, the New Zealand Tall Blacks mainstay who took over from Jamaal Franklin just two days ago.
Notes: Ginebra big man Christian Standhardinger has wrested pole position in the race for the Best Player of the Conference plum. Standhardinger, who averaged 22.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and six assists, carded 42.8 statistical points to show the way with SMB’s CJ Perez (39.3) and June Mar Fajardo (37.6) and TNT’s Calvin Oftana (36.1) and RR Pogoy (35.8) on his tail. The scores: First Game San Miguel 121 – Clark 40, Perez 26, Manuel 20, Cruz 12, Tautuaa 8, Lassiter 7, Enciso 6, Ross 2, Brondial 0, Bulanadi 0.
Converge 105 – Vodanovich 39, Ahanmisi 18, Arana 14, Stockton 12, Melecio 11, Teng 7, Balanza 4, Murrell 0, Tratter 0, Ebona 0, Tolomia 0, Racal 0.
Quarterscores: 34-27, 57-58, 9482, 121-105 Second Game Ginebra 127 – Brownlee 31, Standhardinger 20, Malonzo 20, Gray 15, Pessumal 12, Thompson 10, Mariano 10, Pringle 5, Pinto 4, R. Aguilar 0, David 0, Onwubere 0.
NLEX 93 – Anthony 16, Alas 15, Trollano 14, Rosser 14, Rosales 11, Semerad 10, Miranda 7, Doliguez 4, Nieto 2, Pascual 0, Gabo 0.
Quarterscores: 18-17, 56-36, 9362, 127-93