Beermen seal No. 2, repulse Express

Game Sunday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

3 p.m. – Alaska vs San Mig Coffee

5:15 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer struggled in the first three quarters but got into the groove in the final period, charging back from 18 points down to turn back Air21, 93-85, last night and clinch the second seeding in the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen made a remarkable 26-point turnaround in the payoff period, erasing an 18-point deficit at the start of the quarter and posting the eight-point victory that gave SMB a closing 7-2 win-loss record in the eliminations.

The win also foiled Alaska Milk’s bid for a crack at No. 2 and netted the Beermen the other twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals.

Talk n Text, which swept the single round elims, took the other twice-to-beat advantage as the playoffs top seed.

Air21 wound up with a 3-6 card at eighth, leaving San Mig Coffee (4-4), Rain or Shine (4-4) and Barangay Ginebra (3-5) to slug it out for the two remaining spots in the best-of-three quarterfinals (No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5).

With an inferior quotient, the Express were out of the race even before the game.

Playing without pressure, the Express took control in the first three quarters, striking hardest in the third to open a 72-55 spread going into the final canto.

But they fell into a maze of errors in the last 12 minutes of play, allowing the Beermen to make a key run, get back into the game and eventually repulse the badly stunned Air21 side.

“We really struggled. We had great looks but we missed shots that we usually make. Our guys just hung in there until our shots came,” said SMB consultant Todd Purves.

Kevin Jones, Arwind Santos and Junmar Fajardo came through with big plays in their fourth-quarter turnaround with Jones and Santos coming through with back-to-back three-pointers to shove San Miguel to an 83-78 lead with 2:48 left to play.

Fajardo, meanwhile, muscled his way to the basket to ignite the run that saw Santos finish a fastbreak with a highlight jam that cut the Express’ lead down to three, 73-76.

After Joseph Yeo stopped their scoring spell on a daring drive, Chris Ross, Santos and Jones worked on another run that pushed SMB ahead at 85-78 entering the final minute of the game.

The two teams engaged in a defensive battle early on with Air21 taking the half at 39-35.

Then came the Express’ attack in the third.

NOTES: The Barangay Ginebra Kings liked what they saw from Gabe Freeman in practice upon his arrival in the country yesterday morning. The Ginebra coaching staff and players are convinced Freeman is in top shape, contrary to reports that the former two-time PBA Best Import awardee might not be in tip-top condition due to a long layoff. “He kept on dunking, he kept on running and he energized the locals right away,” said Ginebra top official Robert Non. “He said he’s been continuously playing the past two years except for some time after jamming his finger. And that’s when we were initially trying to get in touch with him (to take over from Leon Rodgers).” The STAR broke the news that Ginebra was considering to sign up Freeman although some on-line sports sites debunked the story.

The scores:

San Miguel Beer 93 – Jones 19, Santos 18, Lassiter 17, Fajardo 15, Ross 9, Maierhofer 5, Tubid 4, Hubalde 4, Kramer 2, Lanete 0, Lutz 0.

Air21 85 – Witherspoon 27, Anthony 14, Camson 12, Taulava 9, Yeo 7, Cardona 7, Poligrates 4, Villanueva 2, Ramos 2, Burtscher 1, Borboran 0.

Quarterscores: 19-16, 35-39, 55-72, 93-85