Alaska, SLR take crack at semis

Alaska Milk and Sta. Lucia Realty missed outright slots in the Asian Invitationals but may reach the Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup semifinals ahead of the others tonight at the Philsports Arena.

This curious scenario would come to fore if the Aces beat the FedEx Express and the Realtors defeat the San Miguel Beermen in the fourth play date of the short quarterfinal round.

The Aces ripped the Beermen, 91-86, while the Realtors rapped the Express, 106-87, on Friday for the decisive headstart in the semis race in Group A. The Coca-Cola Tigers gained an outright playoff crack in Group B as they made it two in a row with a 94-91 whipping of the Talk N Text Phone Pals last Sunday.

Alaska coach Tim Cone considers tonight’s games the key in the fight for the semis under the format being used in the round.

"The second game is really the make-or-break in this format. Even if you lose the first game, you’re back in business if you win the second game," said Cone, aware they couldn’t afford to give any quarter to the Express or they would find themselves in deep trouble.

Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua, meanwhile, hopes they can sustain the intensity they showed versus FedEx Friday to have a good shot at finally pulling one over San Miguel Beer this season.

"Hindi namin sila tinalo sa eliminations. At alam ng lahat na matinding kalaban ang San Miguel because of its experience. Nawala sa kanila si Dorian Peña pero nag-iba na sila ng laro. They’re using quickness to offset the loss of Peña. Even their big men like Danny Ildefonso and Nic Belasco are shooting from the outside," said Chua.

But basketball watchers now consider Sta. Lucia the favorite versus a Peña-less San Miguel squad.

Pena, the Fil-Am behemoth suspended for a year for twice testing positive for illegal substance, averaged 12 points, 12.5 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks in their two-game sweep of the Realtors in the elims.

Vergel Meneses, meanwhile, could again be the key factor in the Fedex-Alaska match.

The two teams split their two elims games with FedEx winning the first game with Meneses scoring 17 points and Alaska winning the second with Meneses finishing with a fat egg.

Incidentally, Meneses averaged 22 points in the games FedEx has won and only 9.4 points in the games the team lost.

Coach Derrick Pumaren’s problem is that Meneses and even Yancy de Ocampo are playing hurt today. Meneses is nursing a hamstring injury while De Ocampo a sprained ankle.

"Hopefully, they come out healthier tomorrow (today)," said Pumaren.