Fired-up Seigle powers SMB past Welcoat

San Miguel Beer rode high on Danny Seigle’s explosive performance as it trounced Welcoat Paints, 97-85, yesterday to enhance its bid for an outright semifinals entry in the Talk N’ Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Seigle erupted for 28 points as he converted all of his 11 free throws and eight of 12 field-goal attempts leading the Beermen to their fifth win in a row and 11th in 16 games in all.

The Beermen inched closer to a possible outright passage into the semis while practically closing the wildcard-round door on the Dragons.

With only one game left in its classification round assignments, Welcoat is still mired in the cellar with a 3-14 win-loss record.

Fighting for survival, the Dragons played with great resolve but fell short in their bid to duplicate their win over the Beermen in their previous tiff.

Gaining their bearing only in the second half, San Miguel coach Chot Reyes said they won’t stand a chance if they play the same way against Talk n Text Sunday.

In the nightcap, Purefoods slammed a listless Coca-Cola squad, 114-73, to tie Sta. Lucia Realty and Red Bull at third place on their identical 10-6 cards.

The 41-point blowout was the Tigers’ worst in franchise history.

"We wanted to conserve our energy for our next game. But if we play like this, we’ll be eaten alive by Talk n Text," said Reyes.

The Beermen came out flat and trailed most of the first half.

With the Beermen down by five, 17-22, at the end of the first quarter, Seigle needed to rifle in 11 in the ensuing period as San Miguel drew within a basket at 46-48.

Seigle, the league’s second leading scorer with an average of 21.1 points behind Mark Caguioa’s 23-point norm, then teamed up with Dorian Pena in another run as the Beermen seized control in the third canto.