Abuda Beerman of the hour

Freddie Abuda scored six of his eight points in the last two minutes but it was his defensive gems in that stretch that lifted San Miguel Beer to a thrilling 81-80 victory over Alaska Milk last night in the Alaxan-PBA All Filipino Cup at the PhilSports Arena.

Abuda delivered the goods from underneath and at the foul line and capped his endgame heroics with a steal off Don Allado's inbound play with 4.6 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Beermen.

"Freddie (Abuda) played heads-up for us on both ends of the floor, especially in the closing seconds for this big victory," said San Miguel coach Jong Uichico, whose wards took a severe beating from Purefoods, 75-98, last Friday.

Abuda's game-clinching steal capped the Beermen's solid defense in the stretch where they held the Milkmen to only a basket to pound out the victory before a big Wednesday crowd at the Pasig venue.

Fil-Am Danny Seigle led all scorers with 31 points, 12 of which he fired in the final quarter although he flubbed a couple of attempts in two of San Miguel's last four offensive plays.

But given a chance to shine, Abuda seized the moment, scoring on an undergoal stab and knocking in two pressure-packed charities, including the marginal basket that capped the game that featured a lot of spectacular shots and stifling defense from both teams.

It was a sorry loss for the Milkmen, who escaped with a 67-64 win over Shell last Friday and appeared headed for another come-from-behind victory when they took a 78-73 lead after trailing most of the way.

Atoning for his lackluster game last Friday, Seigle caught fire early and scored 16 points in the first two quarters as the Beermen seized control at 39-27.

But the Milkmen came up with a full-court defense in the second half while the troika of Poch Juinio, Johnny Abarrientos and Kenneth Duremdes combined in a 16-3 run that shoved Alaska to a 43-42 lead.

Boybits Victoria then took over and fired seven points late in the third period as San Miguel wrested back the lead at 59-53.