SMB, Talk N Text stop foes, set title showdown

Ace Custis broke the nose of Enrico Villanueva just four minutes into the game and Danny Ildefonso, in the closing seconds, broke the heart of the entire Red Bull team.

Ildefonso scored on a looping shot over the outstretched right arm of Earl Barron with eight-tenths of a second left and the San Miguel Beermen nipped the Barakos, 88-86, to clinch the first slot in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Cup finals at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Talk n Text squandered a 19-point lead and flirted with disaster in regulation play but lived on in overtime to beat Shell, 96-91, and reach the finals against San Miguel Beer.

It’s the first time in league history that the Phone Pals and the Beermen figure in the finals. Talk n Text guns for a second title while San Miguel shoots for a 17th crown.

After Ildefonso’s clutch shot, the Barakos worked on an alley-oop play for Barron but Custis anticipated it as the Beermen completed the hair-raising victory that gave them a crack at the coveted crown in the season-ending tourney.

San Miguel gained its ninth finals appearance in 15 conferences under coach Jong Uichico and its 27th overall since the league’s inception in 1975.

"Lucky is the word. We’re 10 points up in the last four minutes but Red Bull easily erased it. That was already a breakdown play because it’s no longer a part of the play. Swerte lang talaga Danny I (Ildefonso) made it," said Uichico of the deciding basket.

"Ang hirap talagang kalaban ng Red Bull because they can come back from big deficits. They can shoot the three and do anything under pressure to keep the game up and down. But luck was on our side," Uichico added.

The Beermen enjoyed a big break right at the outset of the game with Villanueva going down with a broken nose courtesy of a wayward elbow of Custis. The Red Bull ace forward was immediately rushed to the hospital.

"Malaking bagay iyun pagkawala ni Villanueva. He could have spelled the difference for Red Bull in the tight finish. We enjoyed mismatches noong nawala siya," said Uichico.

With Red Bull losing Villanueva, San Miguel seized control early and erected two 12-point leads in the fourth quarter.

But living up to their reputation as a never-say-die team, the Barakos staged a daring chase and put the Beermen on pins and needles in the closing seconds.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Warren Ybanez and Junthy Valenzuela forged an 86-all deadlock with 24.6 seconds left in the clock.

The game already looked headed for an overtime when Ildefonso took possession of the ball in the waning seconds and came up with the killer basket.

Earlier, Custis took a sideline jumper that went short but Dondon Hontiveros grabbed the loose ball and managed to kick the ball out to Ildefonso from a tight situation underneath the basket.

Custis banged in 20 points while Olsen Racela, Ildefonso, Nic Belasco and Dorian Peña added 10 points or more.

Barron’s huge double-double game with 27 points and 21 rebounds went down the drain.