Beermen tie series, gain momentum

San Miguel Beer stoked the fire of its Game Three victory, rotating well on both ends of the court to pull off an 88-72 win and draw level with Red Bull after four games on their best-of-seven showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen practically worked on all cylinders, throwing the defensive blanket on Tony Lang and stepping up their offensive game notches higher as they tied the Thunder with two games apiece, thus reducing their playoff to a best-of-three affair.

The two teams fight for the decisive go-ahead win Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

"After our Game Three win, I thought the pressure went on their (the Thunder’s) side. Now that we tied the series, we’ll return to play Game Five with the pressure heavier on their side and the momentum in our favor," said San Miguel coach Jong Uichico.

Dan Seigle erupted for 26 points while Nate Johnson, Danny Ildefonso, Nic Belasco and Olsen Racela all added 10 points or more as San Miguel made it two in a row against the Red Bull squad which put up a good fight but lost steam minus two key mainstays in Kerby Raymundo and Junthy Valenzuela.

Raymundo served his one-game suspension for his punching foul on Dorian Peña in Game Three. Valenzuela joined Raymundo just watching their teammates in their dugout only nine minutes into Game Four on an elbow foul on Johnson.

The Thunder obviously lost big defensive teeth on the ouster of Raymundo and Valenzuela as the Beermen lorded it over the boards and rode high on the offensive exploits of Seigle.

Johnson went into foul trouble with eight minutes left to play but this hardly mattered as the Beermen still made a crucial run to win the game with plenty to spare.

Johnson was just cheering on the bench when Racela, Seigle and Belasco teamed up in a vicious 9-0 attack to rip the game open at 77-62.

With the Thunder suddenly breaking apart, Jimwell Torion tried to carry the fight for the team, but Red Bull could come no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

"Obviously, Raymundo’s and Valenzuela’s absence helped us. Danny Seigle found more breathing room this time dahil iyung mga bantay niya ngayon mas maliliit," said Uichico.

Seigle went 10-of-21 from the field in putting up the biggest scoring output in the game which he laced with five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

But he had his booboos, including a muffed 360-degree slam on the break with San Miguel up by only 14 at 81-67 with three minutes left in the clock. Red Bull practically made it a four-point swing as Lang scored in the ensuing play.

Ildefonso completed a sort of personal grandslam yesterday when he won an unprecedented fourth straight Best Player of the Conference award.

Ildefonso, the 1999 Rookie of the Year awardee, won the award over Red Bull’s Davonn Harp, teammate Dan Seigle, Alaska’s Kenneth Duremdes and Ali Peek.

Lang gained a piece of the spotlight in the simple awards rites by winning the Best Import trophy over David Wood, Johnson and Sean Chambers.

"Masaya ako sa award na ito, pero magiging masaya ako kung makukuha namin ang championship (in the Commissioner’s Cup)," said Ildefonso, the 24-year-old Pangasinense who’s also the Best Player of the Conference in the Commissioner’s and Governors’ Cup last year and in the recent All-Filipino. Incidentally, the former King NU Bulldog in the UAAP also captured the MVP plum in the recent All-Star Game.

Winning a second straight BPC trophy in the season, this could likely boost Ildefonso’s chance to nail a second consecutive season MVP plum at the end of the year.

For a while, many thought Ildefonso’s bid for the BPC honors had gone to thin air as he figured in two ugly incidents that cost him P25,000 in fines in the playoffs.

He drew P5,000 for his fight with Ali Peek in Game Three of the San Miguel-Alaska semis showdown and P20,000 for another infraction in Game One of the San Miguel-Red Bull finals.

Despite this, Ildefonso gained the nod of the press, his fellow players and the four-man committee in the voting. Earlier, he emerged with the best number of statistical points.

Ildefonso amassed 2689 points as against Harp’s 1266, Seigle’s 964, Duremdes’ 626 and Peek’s 535.