The San Miguel Beermen lived to fight another day, whipping Talk N Text 125-115 Friday night, trimming the Tropang Texters' lead to 3-2 in Game 5 of their semifinals series in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup. Mark Pingris scored a career-high 28 points to keep alive San Miguel's slim hopes of barging into the Finals. To achieve that, the Beermen will have to defeat the Texters twice, while TNT just needs a win to wrap up the series. Pingris scored 16 points in the first half alone as San Miguel erected a 66-51 halftime lead. Mark Cardona led the Texters with 19 points behind a 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. In the other semifinal duel, the defending champion Sta. Lucia Realtors likewise remained alive, trumping Alaska 81-74 to cut the Aces' lead to 3-2. Down by 16 points in the first quarter after a lackluster start, the Realtors turned to their vaunted defense to choke the Aces. Joseph Yeo started cold for the Realtors but waxed hot in the fourth quarter topscoring with 22 points. His three-point shot with 2:12 remaining sealed the win for Sta. Lucia. Yeo ended up with four triples on eight tries. Game 6 will be played on Sunday. If necessary, Game 7 is set for Wednesday next week. The Realtors appeared all set to give up the fight in the first quarter as the Aces erected a 32-16 lead. Unable to trade baskets with Alaska, the Realtors tightened the screws on defense as they held the Aces to a 6-of-18 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Realtors actually shot a miserable 32 percent (14-of-43) in the first half while the Aces made 54 percent of their shots (17-of-31). Two-time MVP Willie Miller was a huge disappointment for Alaska, managing just six points on a 3-of-12 shooting, going 2-of-9 in the second half. He only scored a basket late in the fourth quarter with Sta. Lucia comfortably ahead by 79
