Beermen drop Kings, clear path to finals

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer, behind giant hustle plays at the finish, upended Barangay Ginebra, 89-86, to clinch the second berth in the 2010-11 PBA Philippine Cup finals at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Jay Washington converted an undergoal stab off an offensive rebound then Arwind Santos nailed a charity off a steal by Paul Artadi as the Beermen beat the Kings in the crunch to set up an exciting best-of-seven title duel with the Talk n Text Tropang Texters.

Game One is Saturday at the Victorias City Sports and Amusement Center in Victorias, Negros Occidental – the first time in 10 years the PBA is holding a final game outside Manila.

Alex Cabagnot, returning from a one-game layoff, was man of the hour anew with a decisive five-point binge at endgame.

Booed by the raucous Ginebra crowd in each possession,

Cabagnot had the final laugh as he knocked in a twinner and a three-pointer giving San Miguel an 85-82 lead with 49 ticks left.

Ginebra drew level on a three-point play by Menk before the
Beermen eventually finished off the Kings on hustle plays by Washington, Artadi and Santos.

“With their huge cheering crowd, it’s like San Miguel against the world out there. There’s also emotion running high early on, but I have to give it to the boys they didn’t waver,” said San Miguel coach Ato Agustin.

“We’re happy we’ve accomplished a goal but we have another goal,” said Washington, expressing great confidence they can end up on top of the season-opening tourney.

“I have got a lot left specially against Talk n Text, my former team,” said Washington, coming through with a double-double game with 15 rebounds and 12 points as they finally delivered the kill versus the Kings.

Santos put in a game-high 25 points with Dondon Hontiveros and Cabagnot adding 17 and 11, respectively, as SMB bounced back from a 26-point rout Friday and beat Ginebra, 4-2, in their duel.

Talk n Text eased out B-MEG Derby Ace via the same score in their own semis match-up.

The Beermen gained a second straight finals stint with a shot at a first all-Filipino crown since their 2001 championship.

They play the Tropang Texters in a second title confrontation after their championship duel in the 2005 Fiesta Conference.

“It will be a good battle,” said Agustin, in the running for a Cinderella finish in his first tournament as a pro coach.

The first half was a seesaw battle ending in San Miguel’s favor at 46-45 on an Olsen Racela three-pointer.

It was highly physical and highly emotional marred by four technical fouls assessed in the second period.

The tension eased down after the refs called T’s on Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa and Rudy Hatfield and Cabagnot for their involvement on verbal tussles and on Washington for a flagrant infraction.
source: abs-cbnnews.com/