This time, San Miguel Beer made sure the outcome against Air21 was beyond doubt.
Riding on a torrid second quarter run, the Beermen blasted the hapless Express, 98-78, to keep their spot at second with an 8-5 (win-loss) mark in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
The rout was in stark contrast to San Miguel’s 130-129 win over Air21 last Nov. 5 when the Beermen needed two overtimes and a board decision to officially claim the victory.
Earlier, the PBA board junked Air21’s petition on the controversial loss of a game the Express felt they should have won.
“The board affirmed in a special meeting that the decision of the commissioner on game-related issues is final and unappealable so there is no need to dwell on the merits of whether the protest (of air21) is valid or not,” the board said in a statement.
The twin setbacks dropped Air21 to joint fourth with Rain or Shine at 6-6.
Fil-Am Jay Washington came up with a double-double job of 21 points and 15 rebounds while dishing out six assists, making two steals and a block while rookie Bonbon Custodio had 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals for the Beermen.
“It’s not actually playing to win but we made sure we went out there and did the right things defensively,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.
“Offensively, we were passing 11 assists when we were supposed to be averaging 22, we also talked of putting an effort in that department,” Tanquingcen said.
In the second game, Talk ‘N Text walloped Sta. Lucia, 104-82, to gain a share of third place with three others on 6-6 records.
Truly, the Beermen did not only hold the Express to their season-low output but also dominated in rebounds (61-32), assists (32-17) and shooting (37-of-86-31-of-89).
The SMB defenders also clipped the prolific Gary David, who was limited to 10 points on a woeful three-of-14 shooting.