Beermen, Thunder reach quarters

Art Long threw tantrums once again, seeing limited playing time in the process, but this didn’t stop San Miguel Beer from keeping its searing run and booking an outright slot in the Samsung PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.

Though playing with only one import most of the second half, the Beermen proved too hot to handle for the Airfreight 2100/FedEx Express, scoring an 85-73 rout at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
It was San Miguel’s third straight win – the team’s longest winning streak since sweeping Shell in last year’s Governors Cup best-of-five semifinals – that assured the SMC franchise a seat in the quarters and more importantly kept the team in strong contention for the Top Four.

The Beermen drew even with the Coca-Cola Tigers at third place on identical 5-3 win-loss cards. The Express, meanwhile, slid to seventh in a tie with the Shell Turbochargers at 3-4.

"Bilog yata ang buwan sa amin.The guys are improving. Nic (Belasco) has shown big improvement and it helps a lot. Tapos maganda pa ang import-combination namin, may pang labas at panloob," said San Miguel acting coach Siot Tanquingcen although he expressed concern on their Top Four bid with the team having two tough assignments left in Talk N Text and Sta. Lucia Realty.

"Mukhang mahihirapan kami sa Top Four, mabigat ang last two games namin," he said.

Red Bull streaked to a fourth straight win and clinched a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals as the rampaging Thunder demolished the Talk N Text Phone Pals, 92-80, in the second game.

"We assured ourselves of a spot in the Top Four but we have two more games left in the eliminations and we’ll use those game to keep sharpening our game for the quarterfinals," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.