SLR, SMB go for jugular today

Sta. Lucia Realty and San Miguel Beer try to finish off their respective opponents today and book early tickets to the semifinals of the Samsung PBA Reinforced Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Sta. Lucia defeated Alaska Milk, 88-79, while San Miguel edged FedEx, 97-92, at the start of their best-of-three quarterfinal matchups last week as they moved just a win closer to the next round.

The two other quarterfinal pairings are tied at 1-1 with Coca-Cola against crowd favorite Ginebra and Red Bull against reigning All-Filipino champion Talk N Text.

Ginebra and Talk N Text won the opening games of their respective matchups but failed to go straight to the semis the other night. The deciding games are set Wednesday.

The Realtors have done so well this conference but had to make a lot of adjustments with import Ray Tutt who came in to replace the hurting Damien Owens.

Tutt was limited to 19 points last week but is expected to do better today in his matchup with Alaska import Ike Fontaine. With Tutt struggling, Dennis Espino carried the load for Sta. Lucia with 26 markers.