Beermen smother Texters for No. 8

MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel Beer became more formidable on the return of two-time MVP winner Danny Ildefonso, stretching its unbeaten run to eight games with a 98-87 whipping of Talk n Text in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Ildefonso came through with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his very first game in the season, contributing key plays in San Miguel’s strong finish.

Gabe Freeman churned out 24 points and 18 rebounds, totally outclassing Talk n Text counterpart Tiras Wade who lost his cool at one stage in the contest.

The Tropang Texters suffered a fourth loss against five wins, struggling on poor performances by Wade and top local Macmac Cardona.

Wade had a verbal altercation with coach Chot Reyes late in the second quarter and went after referee Throngy Aldaba after the contest.

Meanwhile, returning import Marquin Chandler outplayed old rival James Penny, and Purefoods repeated over Coca-Cola, 92-85, in the first game.

Chandler, the Best Import awardee in the same tournament in 2006, marked his return to the Purefoods fold with a solid game he spiked with 30 points, 12 rebounds, four shot blocks and three assists, enabling the Giants to go over the .500 mark again with five wins against four losses.

“Obviously, it’s worth the wait. Marquin brought stability to this team,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

“When we’re down, we usually cracked down. Today, even when we’re down, we pulled through because of Marquin. Even before the game, the atmosphere in the locker room was a lot better. It’s because we knew what Marquin can do,” Gregorio said.

Chandler, fresh from a stint in the Korean league, hit 5-of-7 from the three-point area, 6-of-20 from the two-point zone and 3-of-3 from the stripe to finish four points above his PBA career average.