Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — The defending champions San Miguel Beermen moved closer to snaring a semifinals ticket as they defeated the NLEX Road Warriors 88-80 in overtime in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Seldom used 6’9” alternate center Yancy de Ocampo, the older and taller brother of Talk N Text’s Ranidel de Ocampo, played his best game of the season, coming off the bench to finish with a double-double and team-highs of 17 points and 12 boards. He was also a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
SMB thus claimed the solo top spot with its sixth straight win and eighth overall in nine games as it moves closer to grabbing one of two automatic semifinals berths.
NLEX suffered a straight-defeat defeat and slumped to 4-5 win-loss card to take the solo eight spot.
SMB won despite a sub-par performance by two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, who appeared bothered by the defense put on him by NLEX’s Asi Taulava.
Fajardo struggled for just nine points and nine rebounds while also tallying six turnovers before fouling out in the extra period.
Alex Cabagnot also scored 17 points while Ronald Tubid added 14 for San Miguel.
Taulava and Jonas Villanueva jointly led NLEX with 20 points apiece.
GlobalPort 108, Meralco 104
Terrence Romeo exploded for 33 points, 12 of them in the final period, to lead the GlobalPort Batang Pier to a 108-104 victory over the Meralco Bolts.
With its third straight win and sixth overall in nine games, GlobalPort climbed to solo fourth spot, boosting its chances for a twice-to-beat advantage heading into the quarterfinals with two games left in its elimination round schedule.
Meralco officially crashed out of the conference with its ninth loss in 10 outings.
Veteran guard Jimmy Alapag played his best game yet for the Bolts, banging in 18 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter when he led a furious rally that saw Meralco erasing a 24-point deficit and grabbing the lead at 96-94 after a Cliff Hodge layup with three minutes and 46 seconds left.
But Romeo unplugged Meralco’s hopes with back-to-back triples. Alapag tried to answer back with triples of his own, but his two attempts behind the arc were off as his heroics all went down the drain.
Stanley Pringle and Jay Washington provided strong support to Romeo, posting 19 and 15 points, respectively.
Meralco had a balanced offense with five other players scoring in double digits aside from Alapag. Cliff Hodge has 17, Kelly Nabong punched in 13, Reynel Hugnatan 12, Brian Faundo 11 and rookie Chris Newsome 10.
Games Friday: Blackwater Elite (1-7) vs. Barako Bull Energy (4-4) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (6-2) vs. Alaska Aces (7-1).
