Saudi Gazette MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen started slow but came out firing on all cylinders in the endgame to beat the Tropang TNT Texters, 104-98, thus clinching the top seed on the last play date of the PBA Commissioner's Cup elimination round. The victory lifted the Beermen (8-3) to the top of the team standings, giving them a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals against No.8 seed Star Hotshots. Import Tyler Wilkerson was his usual explosive self, finishing with another monster game of 36 points and 15 rebounds. June Mar Fajardo also delivered at crunch time, posting 18 points and seven boards. The two sparked a huge SMB rally in the fourth quarter as the Beermen overhauled a 10-point TNT lead. Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross added 10 points each for SMB. The Texters wound up as the sixth seed with a 6-5 win-loss record. They will go up against the third-seeded Alaska Aces in a best-of-3 quarterfinals series beginning Sunday. Import David Simon led TNT with 32 points and 16 rebounds. Troy Rosario added 14 markers while Moala Tautuaa and Kelly Williams had 10 apiece. Down by six, 94-88, with less than 4 minutes left, Wilkerson buried a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 3. Fajardo then scored back-to-back baskets to give SMB the lead, 95-94, with just 2 minutes left. Cabagnot then banged in a huge corner three-pointer with 1:16 left to keep SMB up, 98-94. Simon split his free throws to put TNT within three. But Wilkerson scored on a tough shot to give San Miguel a 100-95 lead. TNT's Rosario buried a triple, but Fajardo answered with a putback. Wilkerson then sealed the win with two free throws. Alaska 104, NLEX 98 The Alaska Aces squandered a 20-point lead in the first quarter but came up big once again in the endgame to defeat the NLEX Road Warriors, 104-98. Calvin Abueva once again led Alaska with 23 points and eight rebounds as the Aces, with a 7-4 win-loss card, secured the third seed going into the quarterfinals beginning Sunday. NLEX ended its elimination round campaign with a 5-6 mark, getting the seventh seed and a pairing with the second-seed Meralco Bolts, who enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage. Sonny Thoss also starred for Alaska, posting 19 points and eight boards, while RJ Jazul delivered crucial baskets in the final quarter to finish with 18 markers. Rob Dozier, Alaska's original import choice, played his first game after being sidelined by injury. He collected 14 points and 13 boards. Al Thornton top-scored for NLEX with 37 points. Sean Anthony added 24 markers. The Aces were on fire at the get-go, ending the first quarter with a commanding 34-14 lead behind the heroics of Abueva who already had 14 points at that point. But NLEX whittled down Alaska's lead in no time and battled the Aces on even terms until the final moments of the game. With the game tied at 96-all after a Thornton three-pointer, Abueva scored on a tough putback to give Alaska back the lead, 98-96, with 1:51 left. Cyrus Baguio then scored on a fastbreak layup to push Alaska's lead, 100-96, with 21 seconds left. To put icing on the cake, Jazul stole the ball from NLEX and scored an easy fastbreak layup to seal the win for the Aces. Games Sunday (Quarterfinals, best-of-three): Alaska Aces (3rd seed) vs. Tropang TNT (6th seed) and Barangay Ginebra (4th seed) vs. Rain or Shine (5th seed).
