The Burger King Whoppers kept their hopes alive for grabbing an outright semifinals berth as they whacked the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, 96-86, Sunday night in the 2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference. The Whoppers tied the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the standings, both with an 8-6 win-loss card, good for second to third place. Both teams have completed their classification round games and will have to wait for the results of the Barangay Ginebra Kings' two remaining games against Coca-Cola and Alaska to determine their seeding in the next round. The Kings currently hold fourth place with a 7-5 slate but could overtake both Burger King and Rain or Shine and snatch the coveted No. 2 seeding if they win their last two classification round games. The loss quashed Purefoods' hopes of at least figuring in a tie in the battle for the second semifinals seat. In the second match, the San Miguel Beermen rolled to their 11th win in 13 games, beating the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 92-90, who also bowed out of the semifinals race after suffering their seventh loss in 14 games. The Beermen showed up with a new import in Christopher Williams after Gabe Freeman was reported to be suffering from fever. Williams didn't let San Miguel down as he came up with two huge baskets in the final minutes of the game to ensure the win. Williams topscored with 19 points and eight rebounds despite having arrived from the United States a day earlier. Jay Washington also didn't play for San Miguel as he was suffering from back spasms while Dorian Pena is set to undergo X
