Beermen to fuel Top 2 bid vs Enforcers

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer presses its drive for an automatic Final Four entry versus Mahindra even as Globalport and NLEX fight for an outright quarterfinals berth in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

The Batang Pier and the Road Warriors mix it up at 4:15 p.m. then the Beermen and the Enforcers clash in the 7 p.m. main game kicking off a rare Wednesday-Thursday back-to-back PBA playdates.

Action swings over to the MOA Arena in Pasay City tomorrow, pitting Talk n Text versus Barako Bull at 4:15 p.m. then Alaska Milk opposite Meralco at 7 p.m.

The tourney takes a break this Friday before resuming action Saturday with a Petron Blaze road game in Angeles City pitting Barangay Ginebra versus Blackwater.

Assured of a quarters spot, the Beermen now chase a Top Two finish in the elims to gain automatic passage into the semifinals.

In great form, Junmar Fajardo and his teammates are fancied to sustain their romp even as they fell in upset by Mahindra in the last two conferences.

The Beermen would surely have at the back of their mind the twin heartbreakers – a 78-88 defeat in the Commissioner’s Cup and 78-83 loss in the Governors Cup.

“It goes to show no team can be taken lightly in the PBA,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

While the Beermen press their Top Two aspiration, the Enforcers look to boost their bid for the Magic 10 or a spot in the quarterfinals.

In the other game, the Batang Pier and the Road Warriors break their deadlock at fifth place at 4-3. The winner clinches the fourth berth in the quarters.

Mahindra has just moved up to ninth place following an 86-83 spanking of Meralco Friday.

With an earlier victory over NLEX, the Enforcers sport a 2-5 win-loss record, ahead of the Star Hotshots at 2-6, the Blackwater Elite at 1-6 and the Bolts at 1-7.

Coach Chito Victolero hopes main men LA Revilla, Aldrech Ramos, Mark Yee, Karl Dehesa and Kyle Pascual keep their heads-up performances as they face a tall wall to climb versus the Beermen.

They have improved on their 1-10 showing in similar tourney last season. But they don’t want to stop there.

Their last four games are San Miguel Beer, Star, Globalport and Blackwater.

The Beermen’s tremendous showing has earned them wins over Globalport, Meralco, Blackwater, Barangay Ginebra, Barako Bull and Star. Their lone defeat came at the hands of Rain or Shine, 84-99.