Beermen roll to their third win

San Miguel Beer stayed the only unbeaten team in the PBA 2001 season, streaking to its third straight win by keeping its mastery of Pop Cola, 85-79, last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen faced a tough challenge from the Panthers but still pulled through in the end, making it six in a row versus the RFM Corp. franchise in their head-on clashes dating back to the 1999 season.

Pop Cola actually suffered its 16th loss in its last 18 meetings with San Miguel, thus falling to 1-2 (win-loss) in the All-Filipino Cup team standings which the Beermen still pace at 3-0.

"I foresaw Pop Cola pushing us to the limit in this game. I believe Pop Cola is no longer the Pop Cola of old because it’s now getting a lot of intensity from Rudy Hatfield, Jojo Lastimosa, Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio. I thought we have to grind and grind to beat them and we did just that," said San Miguel coach Jong Uichico.

Grind throughout the Beermen did as they kept the Panthers winless in their last seven outings at the Big Dome.

Pop Cola suffered its second straight loss this season despite limiting itself to only 13 turnovers and holding San Miguel to a paltry 38-percent shooting from the field.

"They (the Panthers) defended us very well but I think we executed better on both ends of the court in the final stretch," said Uichico.

The Beermen outscored the Panthers, 8-2, in the last two minutes with Danny Seigle, Danny Ildefonso and Olsen Racela delivering the points and Freddie Abuda and Nic Belasco flexing their muscles on defense.

In the nightcap, Red Bull gained a share of second with Shell, Ginebra and Purefoods as it repulsed Mobine, 80-68, for its second win in three starts.

"Basically, it's because of our defense," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao. "We got off to a good start and it allowed me to rotate all my players, giving me fresh legs throughout. So we're able to keep our defensive pressure."

Rudy Hatfield came up with a double-double job with 19 points and 15 rebounds while Johnny Abarrientos added 16 points to move past Bernard Fabiosa in the league all-time scoring ladder. Abarrientos is now at 26th with 6,612 points.