Jimmy Alapag hit four straight free throws in the dying seconds, allowing the Texters to escape and keep alive their magnificent streak that started close to three months ago.

And just when many thought that the Beermen would be easy pickings after import Gabriel Freeman went down with the flu on Friday and failed to make the trip to Negros Occidental, San Miguel came up with a performance that emphasized which powerhouse squad has the better all-Filipino crew.

San Miguel actually led, 74-69 entering the final four minutes before a big drought hit the Beermen as Talk ’N Text eventually  rose to 14-2 overall and could take it easy the rest of the way after securing No. 1 seeding.

No team can catch the Texters at the top anymore with San Miguel, now at 11-4 and having three games to go, forced to yield No. 1 ranking in the event of a tie because of the winner-over-the-other  rule.

And with the loss, the Beermen are now forced to work double time to keep second spot with Derby Ace now just a full game behind at 10-5 after an 84-82 decision of Rain or Shine Friday night which was partly aided by two bum calls in the endgame.

“Those were the breaks of the game, and we were just lucky being on the winning end of them,” Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio said as those two lousy calls resulted in three free throws for the Llamados.

Derby Ace also has three games remaining and could make life difficult for the Beermen, who have now lost two of their last three games.

Alaska , meanwhile, would have to content itself with nailing an outright quarterfinal spot even after a thrilling 98-94 decision of Air21 also on Friday night.

Cyrus Baguio, slowed down by a hurting right knee, still delivered 14 fourth quarter points and Diamon Simpson had a monster effort of 24 points and 17 boards as the duo made sure that the 46-point outburst of Leroy Hickerson for the Express went to naught.

“I wouldn’t want to be the one to play them in the wildcard,” Alaska coach Tim Cone told reporters, aware of how good Hickerson could be considering that the Air21 import played just his second game on Philippine soil.

“Had they beaten us (tonight), it wouldn’t have been an upset in my mind,” he added. “I told the players before the game that this (Air21) was not a 3-11 team. Normally, a 3-11 team doesn’t have a lot of confidence.

“Had they had this import from the very beginning, this would be a totally different team.”

Alaska improved to 9-6 and with a strong chance of bagging third place, the best possible spot in the quarterfinals since the team that lands in that spot draws the team that will win the wildcard, hence, a very tired squad.

Hickerson’s total went with 14 rebounds and seven assists, his point production the most by anyone this season.

Solomon Mercado of Rain or Shine almost eclipsed that in the game against the Llamados, when he erupted for 22 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 45, although he missed the Elasto Painters final two shots which could have won them the game,

That was a career-high for the stocky point guard and it was the most points scored by any local since 2006, when Barangay Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa chalked up his own career-high.