Saudi Gazette MANILA — The eighth-seeded Star Hotshots scored a monumental upset of the top-seeded San Miguel Beermen, 108-99, in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinal duel Monday to keep their hopes alive of at least advancing to the semifinals. Since SMB holds a twice-to-beat advantage, the two sister teams will meet again Wednesday to decide who will advance to the next stage of the tournament. Star was down by 11 points at the half, with the Beermen seemingly assured of coasting to victory the rest of the way. But the Hotshots had other ideas. They turned the game around in the third quarter and then dropped a 14-0 bomb in the fourth to stun the shell-shocked Beermen. Import Ricardo Ratliffe came up with a monster game of 33 points and 29 rebounds — 12 of those on the offensive end — to lead the Hotshots. He shot an efficient 16-for-29 (55 percent) clip from the field. He had plenty of local support with Allein Maliksi banging in 23 points and Peter June Simon churning 22 points on only 13 shot attempts. Meralco 104, NLEX 97 The Meralco Bolts had to weather a storm before overcoming the seventh-seed NLEX Road Warriors, 104-97, to advance to the semifinal round by virtue of their twice-to-beat advantage as the second-seeded team. The Road Warriors started strong as they took a 12-point lead in the first half. The Bolts began warming up in the third quarter and made it a close game. At the start of the final quarter, NLEX unleashed an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead, 79-70. But Meralco countered with a 9-0 blast to level the score at 79-all. The two teams then exchanged baskets with the Bolts taking a 98-96 lead, with 27 seconds remaining. Four free throws then sealed the victory for Meralco. Reynel Hugnatan paced Meralco with 20 points and seven rebounds while Cliff Hodge added 19 points and nine boards. Jared Dillinger chipped in with 18 points while rookie Chris Newsome finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Import Arinze Onuaku had a double-double output of 13 points and 11 rebounds. NLEX import Al Thornton played like the NBA veteran that he was, pouring in 38 points. Garvo Lanete added 21 for the Road Warriors, who bowed out of the playoffs. Games Tuesday (quarterfinals, best-of-3): Barangay Ginebra Kings vs. Rain or Shine (ROS up 1-0) and Tropang TNT vs. Alaska Aces (TNT up 1-0)
