Kings step up semis bid versus Beermen

Three teams press their bids for an outright semifinals entry while one seeks to sustain its drive to avoid the toughest climb in the wildcard plays in a crucial twinbill entering the last stretch of the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup double-round classification phase today at the Astrodome.

Air21 battles Coca-Cola at 4:40 p.m. while Barangay Ginebra clashes with San Miguel Beer at 7:25 p.m. in two important matches ushering the final two weeks of jockeying for position in the classification phase of the season-opening tourney.

Purefoods has gained the first outright seat in the semifinals but six teams in Red Bull Barako, Talk n Text, Ginebra, Air21, Coca-Cola and Alaska Milk remain in hot chase of the second and last semis slot being contested in the classification phase.

The Chunkee Giants clinched the first semis seat as they whipped the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 84-75, then the Barakos topped the Express, 91-85, Wednesday.

Red Bull surged to second place with an 8-7 win-loss card after recovering from two losses. Ginebra is looking to unseat Red Bull at second spot when the Kings tangle with the Beermen today.

The Beermen are on a four-game streak but, with a 5-8 card, are no longer in contention for an outright semis entry. With their chance at an automatic quarterfinals berth also looking dim, coach Jong Uichico and his troops are hoping to at least finish in the middle of the pack to avoid the survivor playoff between the No. 8 and No. 9 teams.

"Our winning streak came a bit late. But we’re focused on continuously winning games and just take it from there," said Uichico, whose squad had fallen on a deep hole when it lost eight of its first nine games in the tourney.

"Had we won even half of those game, we could have been in the running for an outright semis seat," Uichico added.