SMC humbles Star five; RFM wins

Siot Tanquingcen stepped up his game at the backcourt in the absence of Hector Calma, firing 14 points and coming up with a big steal in the closing seconds as San Miguel Corp. survived The Philippine Star, 81-79, in a close contest in the Philippine Star Friendship League at the Meralco gym yesterday.

Flirting with disaster after Allan Caidic split from the foul line with 12 seconds to go, the Beermen needed Tanquingcen’s defensive gem to preserve the win that assured the team of the top seeding in the cross-over semifinals.

Noel Caballes went 5-of-5 from the three-point range, including one from the left quartercourt with 14 ticks left that shoved The Star to within one at 79-80. But his efforts went down the drain as he lost crucial possession to Tanquingcen in the dying seconds.

The Starmen, managed by Kevin Belmonte and supported by Adidas in this tournament organized by Star Group of Publications chief executive officer Miguel Belmonte to foster friendship and camaraderie among their advertisers, seek to salvage second seeding in the Final Four when they play RFM Corp. at the close of the single round robin eliminations Nov. 24.

Two-time BIBATO champion ABS-CBN clinched a semis seat with a 96-93 double-overtime win over RCBC while RFM Corp. stayed in the running for the next round with a 65-49 thrashing of UCPB in the other games.

Samboy Lim had another sterling game with 24 points while Allan Caidic added 15 points though coming late for the game and suiting up only in the second half.