Beermen take pep out of Barako Coffee, share lead

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer started strong and finished even stronger as it walloped Barako Energy Coffee, 106-82, to gain a piece of the lead in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Astrodome last night.

The Beermen seized control early behind the exploits of Dondon Hontiveros and Alex Cabagnot and finished pulling away on the sterling efforts of Dorian Peña, Jay Washington and Olsen Racela.

Import Gabe Freeman drew tremendous support from his local teammates as the Beermen tied the Coca-Cola Tigers for the lead with 3-1 win-loss cards.

Hontiveros went 4-of-4 from the field in the opening quarter and finished with a team-high 20 points on top of four rebounds and one assist.

Freeman put in 17 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two shot blocks with Washington, Cabagnot and Peña adding at least 11 points each for the Beermen who made it 3-0 over the Energy Food and Drinks franchise this season.

The Coffee Masters reeled to their fourth straight loss after winning their first game in the reinforced tourney against the Sta. Lucia Realtors.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine and Barangay Ginebra clash today in the second leg of the Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour in Victorias, Negros Occidental.

The Beermen jumped the gun on the Coffee Masters only to relax in the second and third quarters, allowing Barako to get back into the game.

“That’s our main concern, we have bad habits,” rued San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“We gave away 17 free throws in the second quarter, meaning we didn’t play defense. We’re not playing defense so we’re not able to pull away early,” Tanquingcen added.

After allowing the Coffee Masters to come within five, 64-69, after the third quarter, the Beermen buckled down to work again to pull off the rout.

Peña, Washington, Racela, Cabagnot and Arwind Santos did the job as San Miguel pummeled Barako, 38-18, in the fourth quarter.

Philippine Cup champion B-MEG Derby Ace made it two in a row in the reinforced tourney with a 92-75 win over Air21 in the nightcap.

Former Sen. Nikki Coseteng tossed the ceremonial ball in the contest highlighting the first day of the league’s weeklong anniversary celebration.

The scores:

San Miguel 106 – Hontiveros 20, Freeman 17, Washington 16, Cabagnot 13, Peña 11, Yeo 8, Santos 7, Racela 6, Ildefonso 4, Miranda 2, Pennisi 2, Villanueva 0, Holper 0.

Barako Coffee 82 – Monroe 25, Najorda 11, Vergara 9, Reyes 9, Wainwright 9, Duncil 8, Aljamal 6, Faundo 2, Alonzo 2, Dimaunahan 1, Menor 0.

Quarterscores: 31-17, 55-46, 69-64, 106-82

Second Game

Derby Ace 92 – Wade 29, Yap J. 15, Yap R. 14, Canaleta 12, Artadi 7, Pingris 6, Simon 4, Maierhofer 2, Revis 2, Allado 1, Salvador 0.

Air21 75 – Buenafe 14, Young 13, Ritualo 12, Billones 9, Cortez 8, Sharma 6, Gonzales 5, Matias 3, Kramer 2, Alvarez 2, Williams 1, Belga 0, Yee 0.

Quarterscores: 19-10, 50-37, 73-59, 92-75