MANILA, 18 December 2004 — Nic Belasco scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 17 rebounds Thursday night as San Miguel Beer came from behind to trip Coca-Cola, 80-75, in a Gran Matador PBA Philippine Cup road game at the Dagupan Astrodome in Dagupan City.
The 6-foot-7 Belasco came up with his offensive production at the most opportune times as the Beermen battled back from as many as 13 points down in the first half to win for the eighth time in 16 games.
The Tigers dropped to 7-10 and were eliminated from the race for twice-to-beat advantages in the wildcard phase of the eliminations.
Out of the running for outright berths in the semifinals, the Beermen, on the other hand, remained in the hunt for a twice-to-beat privilege in the next round of the elims.
Tournament format calls for the top two teams after the classification phase to make the semifinals outright. The next two teams with the best record will then be given the privilege to win only once against the two lowest-ranked teams.
Teams in the middle of the pack _ Nos. 5 and 6 clash with Nos. 8 and 7 _ in separate race-to-two series for the right to join the quarterfinals. The Beermen were inconsistent in the game, falling behind, 22-31 at one point in the second period after they were held scoreless for a four-minute span.
Coca-Cola failed to put San Miguel away in that crucial stretch as the Beermen fought back behind Belasco, Danny Ildefonso and Danny Seigle to stay well within range.
The Tigers, who ended a 2-game win streak, also limped coming home when Rob Wainwright, who led them with 19 markers, left the game after committing his sixth foul late in the fourth period.
Coca-Cola, which has now lost 5 of 6 out-of-town assignments this year, still controlled the game in the third period, when it came out of the halftime break with nine points coming from Wainwright and two from bruiser Ali Peek for a 52-43 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the period.
As they have done the whole game, the Beermen steadily nibbled away at that deficit and went into the fourth period trailing by just three, 56-59. Meanwhile, no team has a lock on any of the two seats in the semifinal round of the PBA Philippine Cup.
