Beermen, Texters clash in Singapore

SINGAPORE – The Philippine Basketball Association features an official game abroad for the fifth time in league history pitting San Miguel Beer and Talk n Text in a duel of talent-laden and star-studded teams at the National Indoor Stadium here today.

Both flying to this modern city state coming off big wins back home, the Beermen and the Tropang Texters are likely to figure in a fierce battle with the two teams pressing their bid for a finish inside the Magic Five in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup double-round elimination phase.

James Yap dished out a double-double performance of 26 points and 10 rebounds as Purefoods grounded Air21, 96-88, in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup out-of-town match up in Tacloban City last night.

The victory was the Giants’ seventh against the same number of losses while dealing the Express their seventh setback against six wins.

San Miguel crushed Air21, 98-78, while Talk n Text clobbered Sta. Lucia, 104-82, in a night of routs at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.

“Hopefully, we can use our win against Sta. Lucia as a springboard going to our game against San Miguel,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

“It’s a crucial game and it’s gonna be a challenge for us since we’re now dealing with injuries to key players. We watched their last game and we saw them working on all cylinders on offense and defense,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

The Tropang Texters came here as early as Friday to get the feel of the playing venue.

The Beermen flew in only yesterday minus Marc Pingris who’s nursing a sprained ankle.

“We have other players with pains here and there. But we’re out to battle. The tournament is heading to its final stretch and the teams are jockeying for position on top,” said Tanquingcen.

San Miguel (8-5) drew within a game of frontrunner Alaska Milk (9-4) after its win over Air21 Wednesday followed by the Aces’ loss to the Sta. Lucia Realtors Friday.

Talk n Text is in the middle of the pack with an even 6-6 win-loss card, half-game behind joint third-placers Sta. Lucia and Rain or Shine at 7-6.

Curiously, San Miguel rode high on the exploits of former Talk n Text player Jay Washington as the Beermen topped the Tropang Texters, 84-77, in their previous tiff.

Washington collected 21 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and one steal in his first game versus Talk n Text after being traded to San Miguel. The 6-foot-6 forward himself bailed the Beermen out of trouble in that contest as he scored nine points in the fourth quarter.

The Beermen held the Tropang Texers to an all-time franchise low 29.5 percent field-goal shooting. San Miguel also badly outrebounded TnT, 83-53.

Those caroms were the third all-time most in a game and the biggest in a game over the last 25 years. The all-time most number of rebounds in a game is 87 which Gilbey’s Gin recorded in a 148-39 win over Toyota on June 25, 1983. Toyota tallied 85 rebounds in that game, 60 on the defensive end.