By MARK REY MONTEJO
Red-hot San Miguel is aiming to end its elimination campaign with a bang, while TNT and Meralco seek to strengthen their own bids for quarterfinal incentive in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila Friday, Dec. 19.
The Beermen (8-2) are not only looking to make it nine in a row but also put a lock on the No. 1 spot when they battle the Bolts (6-4) in their 7:30 p.m. contest.
Kicking off the double-header action is Meralco’s fellow quarters bonus hopeful, the Tropang 5G (6-3) who go for back-to-back victory against the Blackwater Bossing (1-9) at 5:15 p.m.
After Rain or Shine fell short to Barangay Ginebra, 82-80 result in their overseas affair at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Bahrain, San Miguel seized the solo lead.
An improvement they hope to keep ahead of the quarters, where the Beermen might face either the NLEX Road Warriors or the Gin Kings.
“Well it’s a welcome development for us [getting the quarters bonus], this is our goal since the start of the conference to get into the top four because of the incentives,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria.
“But right now ‘di pa namin alam kung sino pang makakalaban pero still we have to work hard kasi a lot of teams really hard to beat eh… you can’t relax eh,” he added.
CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo powered the Beermen over the Terrafirma Dyip, 135-115, for their eighth consecutive victory – a superb streak after dropping their first two games.The two veterans, alongside Don Trollano, Jeric Teng, and Jericho Cruz, take charge again against the determined Bolts who have rising star CJ Cansino leading the way with his scoring brilliance that stretched Meralco’s win streak to three games.
Apart from Cansino, Meralco can also count om Cliff Hodge, Chris Newsome and Bong Quinto as they target to break free from the three-way logjam and perhaps jump to No. 4.
Meanwhile, TNT, spearheaded by Jordan Heading, Rey Nambatac, and Calvin Oftana, guns for a No. 3 seat against the slumping Bossing side.
