Seigle back in driver’s seat for SMB

Danny Seigle came out of the rut to fashion out his most explosive performance in over two months last night and San Miguel Beer stretched its streak to four games with a 74-68 win over Purefoods in the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Seigle, the erstwhile league leading local scorer who averaged only 7.3 points in their last four games, was back in his fiery form, firing 23 points on a high 66-percent shooting clip to lead the Beermen to a fourth straight win after losing eight of their first nine games.

On the dip of his scoring average, Seigle thought it’s because he’s not been that aggressive offensively as of late.

"We’re trying to involve everybody. The system has been working so I don’t think I have to mess it up," said Seigle.

The 6-foot-6 forward had his most productive game since making 30 points in a 90-92 loss in overtime to Purefoods in their first meeting in the tourney last Oct. 16.

Kwan Johnson, Dorian Peña and Dondon Hontiveros also submitted double-digit outputs as San Miguel stayed in the chase for an outright quarterfinal berth although they remained in the cellar with a 5-8 win-loss record.

"Many are wondering on our sudden turnaround from our poor start in the tourney. Me myself has no answer to that. Maybe, it’s because the players have decided to play with a sense of urgency," said San Miguel coach Jong Uichico.

"They took it upon themselves to play as a team and work together in finding ways to win," Uichico added.

True enough, the Beermen continued to play as one solid unit in handing the Chunkee Beefies their first consecutive losses in the tourney.

Despite their fifth loss in 14 games, the Chunkee Beefies, however, remained in the lead in the battle for the two outright semis berths staked in the double-round classification phase.

Purefoods, which bowed to Talk n Text, 89-93, in overtime last Wednesday, absorbed a second straight loss while shooting a measly 32 percent from the field.

Marquin Chandler, who led all scorers with 25 points, was 1-of-5 from the three-point zone and 9-of-23 from the two-point area.

Coca-Cola pounded Talk n Text’s scrambling finish to hack out a 73-67 win and stay in hot pursuit of the frontrunners in the nightcap.