Beermen and Hotshots in do-or-die encounter
THE SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN and Star Hotshots engage in a do-or-die encounter today to decide who get to advance to the semifinal round of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup and who say goodbye to their campaign.
Following their 108-99 win last Monday, eighth-seeded Star cast aside the twice-tobeat edge of top seed San Miguel and is now in a position to inflict a major upset in the quarterfinals in today’s lone match set at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In their Game One win, Star import Ricardo Ratliffe was solid, chalking a monster double-double of 33 points and 29 rebounds and outplaying his San Miguel counterpart Tyler Wilkerson who had 22 points, on nine-of-19 shooting, below his conference average of 37.
Allein Maliksi and Peter June Simon, meanwhile, had 23 and 22 points, respectively, for Star.
The Hotshots fell behind in double-digits early in the match but mustered enough resolve to fight their way back.
Veteran Simon, who now starts for the team with the absence of Star guard James Yap, waxed hot in the third period that greatly helped his team in its comeback.
He eventually was named best player of the game after for his efforts.
“The guys never gave up,” said Star Coach Jason Webb as he summed up what did it for them in the win.
“They know what needs to be done and they believe in their abilities,” he added while also acknowledging that they have not accomplished anything yet with the win and that they have to play solid basketball still today.
For Mr. Simon, it was a relief to be given another chance at advancing, especially against a powerhouse team like San Miguel.
“It’s a great feeling to be given another chance, another opportunity. San Miguel is a very strong team but our mind-set was that this was a five-on-five game and we can compete with them,” said Mr. Simon in the postgame interview, adding, “On my part, I just need to provide the leadership to help my team which I believe I did tonight.”
“Wednesday is another do-or-die for us and hopefully we will once again survive,” continued Mr. Simon, whose team had to beat the Mahindra Enforcers in the windup of the elimination round to latch on to the final spot in the quarterfinals.
In their lone game in the elimination round, Star was routed by San Miguel, 117-98.
Meanwhile, the Meralco Bolts were the first to enter the semifinals by defeating the NLEX Road Warriors, 104-97, also on Monday.
Despite holding a twice-to-beat advantage as the second seeds, the Bolts saw no need to use it as they ousted the Road Warriors at the first instance behind 20 points from Reynel Hugnatan and 52 combined points from Cliff Hodge, Jared Dillinger and Chris Newsome.
Meralco finished dead-last in the previous tournament PBA Philippine Cup.