MANILA, 14 November 2003 — Against a team that purposely fields in all its players in a game, San Miguel unleashed just eight players on Wednesday night.

They were all the Beermen needed.

On a night when the seedings played true to form, San Miguel bucked a game that left its coach unsatisfied and escaped with a 97-92 victory over FedEx in the Samsung Philippine Basketball Association Reinforced Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

A jumpball that FedEx guard Roger Yap won but import Terrence Shannon failed to field and a three-point attempt by Vergel Meneses that did not hit anything at all were all the breaks the Beermen needed to climb to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

The Beermen had possession and a six-point lead going into the final two minutes, but Dondon Hontiveros hurried a play they didn’t need to rush and turned the ball over. FedEx went on transition and Kwan Johnson gave up a flagrant foul on Shannon.

Shannon could only manage a split but Jerry Codinera scored on a putback to push the Express close, 93-90.

The Beermen were forced to a jumpball that Yap won, but Shannon failed to control the leather.

Johnson missed two free throws in the ensuing play, but the Express failed to capitalize as Meneses, who scored all his 16 points in the second half, threw an air ball. Hontiveros made up for his previous error by breaking the Express trap with a fastbreak layup that made it 95-90, 29 ticks remaining.

Sta. Lucia Realty fashioned an 88-79 victory over Alaska and became the only first-ranked team to get off to a fine start in the quarterfinals.

Slotman Dennis Espino had 26 points and eight rebounds and provided the big rallying point the Realtors needed in overcoming a tough as nails Aces crew that refused to yield so easily. With the win, the Realtors, who topped Group A eliminations, avoided the fate that befell Group B top seeds Red Bull Barako and Coca-Cola which both absorbed losses last Sunday.

More important, the Realtors moved just one win away from wrapping up the best-of-three series on Sunday and entering their second semifinals this year after the season-opening All-Filipino.

Espino had plenty of help from new import Ray Tutt, who despite nursing a slight groin strain, still wound up with 19 points, 10 boards and four assists while playing superb defense on Alaska counterpart Ike Fontaine.

Marlou Aquino had 17 points and Kenneth Duremdes scored 15 to go with six rebounds and a game-high seven feeds. Even Jason Webb came off the bench to provide additional hustle and several heads-up plays. Fontaine was held to only 17 points and was stifled most in the fourth quarter after leading Alaska back from eight points down to a 61-59 lead.

Tutt’s leech-like defense took its toll on his usually prolific counterpart and the Aces had nobody else to turn to for the points as the Realtors outscored them 29-18 in the decisive period.

Fontaine’s only basket of the period moved Alaska within 75-81 and Rob Duat’s follow-up made it 77-83. But that was the closest the Aces could get to in the final 1:10.

Tutt, the former Red Bull import who replaced the injured Damien Owens, seemed like a fish out of water in the early goings as he threw up three air balls and went 3-of-8 from the field in the first half.