Olsen Racela, a 40-year-old point guard nearing retirement, burned Talk ’N Text with three triples in the fourth period, and Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso had some key contributions of their own in San Miguel’s  93-88 Philippine Cup victory Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Racela came off the bench in the second half and played just 11 minutes, and the 5-foot-10 point guard who was once the best in the league was the best in this game as he keyed a fourth quarter breakaway that resulted in the Beermen’s eighth win in 10 games.

That put San Miguel in the solo lead again, breaking out of a tie forged by sister squad Barangay Ginebra earlier in the night after the Gin Kings similarly broke away in the fourth quarter to hand Barako Bull a 90-78 beating.

“Olsen played like he was the key to our entire offense (in the fourth period),” San Miguel coach Ato Agustin told reporters in Filipino. “You all saw it. When he was on the floor, the team played a notch higher.

“As far as I am concerned, the three of them, notwithstanding their age, will continue to play as long as they give me quality games,” he continued.

Jay Washington led the Beermen with 20 points, but it was Racela’s nine, Seigle’s six and Ildefonso’s five points in the fourth period that lifted the Beermen to the win, the seventh in eight games wherein Agustin has called the shots for the team.

“We need this win,” Agustin said, practically echoing what his counterpart at Ginebra, Jong Uichico, said in his post-game interview earlier.

“It’s good that we won this game,” Uichico said. “We have something to carry with us for Sunday.” Both coaches felt that Wednesday night’s game was important for their respective squads as they square off Sunday with no less than the solo lead on the line. San Miguel defeated the Kings, 69-68, in the very first game that Agustin coached.

Ronald Tubid scored 19 points and Mark Caguioa was again the spark for the Kings, shooting all but three of his 17 in the fourth period as Ginebra won for the sixth straight game, the longest winning streak in the tournament thus far.

Ginebra improved to 7-2 and dealt the Energy Boosters their fourth consecutive setback – the tournament-worst – in a 2-7 card that put Barako Bull – for the fourth straight conference – closer to elimination.

Sunday Salvacion led the Boosters with 15 points and Dennis Daa completed the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 boards.

But the duo couldn’t rescue the Boosters, who simply faded in the fourth period after sticking close to the Kings practically 90-percent of the way.

“We really struggled at the start and that’s what we were afraid of,” Ginebra coach Jong Uichico told reporters. “My fear is that we might take them (Boosters) lightly.

“It’s good that they could not sustain (a late run) and we made a run of our own in the end,” he added. “Had they made shots in the end, it would have been a different story.” San Miguel versus Talk ‘N Text was intense, as the two powerhouses battled furiously all game which saw a total of 15 lead changes, 11 total shotblocks and a low scoring first half where both squads combined for just 71 points.

Jason Castro and Ali Peek scored 18 points each for the Texters, who missed the services of head coach Chot Reyes and power forward Kelly Williams, who are both on loan to the National Five seeing action in the Guangzhou Asian Games in China.

Harvey Carey finished with 15 points and a career-high-tying 23 rebounds for the Texters.