No Stopping the Beermen

Team	W	L	PCT
San Miguel	7	1	0.875
Talk N Text	6	2	0.750
Coca-Cola	4	4	0.500
Rain or Shine	3	3	0.500
Ginebra	3	3	0.500
Derby Ace	3	3	0.500
Alaska	3	3	0.500
Sta. Lucia	3	4	0.429
Barako Energy Coffee	2	6	0.250
Air21	1	6	0.143

(From PBA)

There’s still no stopping San Miguel although the Beermen battled without an import almost half of the way versus the B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados Sunday.

With Olsen Racela and Joseph Yeo providing the spark and energy coming off the bench in the third quarter, tournament leader San Miguel fought back from 18-points deficits and upended B-MEG Derby Ace, 80-72, in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Jay Washington, Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot put the finishing touches as San Miguel made it six in a row to improve its overall win-loss record to 7-1.

For the second straight game, Washington put in a personal season best with 25 points. Santos and Cabagnot scored 10 points each, combining for 12 in the fourth quarter.

The Llamados failed to sustain a bristling first half and suffered a third loss in six starts.

“Olsen and Joseph Yeo made the big difference in this game. We’re given a big lift by our bench, especially Olsen. Ang gulo ng takbo ng laro namin noong una. Binigyan nya kami ng order and calmness noong pumasok sya,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“We settled down after Olsen and Joseph came in. And somehow, we’re able to carry that through,” Tanquingcen added.

Trailing by 18 at 41-59 and 43-61, the Beermen, after a long chase, finally surged ahead at 67-66 on a breakaway layup by Washington with 5:39 left to play.

Then Santos and Cabagnot took over, allowing the Beermen to even win with plenty to spare.

Committing four early fouls, Freeman played only 28 minutes and produced just 11 points and eight rebounds.

Nonetheless, the Beermen never gave up, riding high on the exploits of Washington, Santos, Cabagnot, Racela and Yeo as they spoiled Cliff Brown’s debut as new Derby Ace import.

“Brown has made Derby Ace an even more formidable rebounding power. Pati sya energetic din, bagay na bagay sa Derby Ace,” said Tanquingcen.

“But of course, medyo kakapa-kapa pa sya dahil first game pa lang. He’s not yet familiar with his teammates,” Tanquingcen added.

Brown, taking over from Lorenzo Wade, got 15 points and 14 rebounds in his initial game in the local pro league.

James Yap, Paul Artadi and Nino Canaleta played good music with Brown as the Llamados took control early on and sat on a 46-36 cushion at halftime. (SB)

The scores:

San Miguel 80 - Washington 25, Freeman 11, Santos 10, Cabagnot 10, Yeo 6, Ildefonso 6, Racela 5, Hontiveros 4, Pena 2, Villanueva 1, Miranda 0, Pennisi 0.

Derby Ace 72 - Yap J. 20, Brown 15, Artadi 8, Canaleta 6, Simon 6, Pingris 6, Allado 5, Maierhofer 4, Reavis 2, Yap R. 0.

Quarterscores: 18-24, 36-46, 54-63, 80-72