MANILA: Right now, the biggest unsolvable puzzle in the PBA Philippine Cup remains to be San Miguel.
But despite all the brilliance that they have played with in the last month or so, the Beermen still haven’t caught up with an Alaska squad that they have been chasing ever since the start of this tournament.
The Beermen last night zoomed to their eighth straight victory, a 100-85 bamboozling of Burger King at the Ynares Arena in Pasig after getting 27 points from Arwind Santos and 20 from Lordy Tugade.
Up by only five at the start of the fourth period, 72-67, San Miguel dropped a 19-4 bomb that completed a whipping of the game Whoppers, rising to 8-2 in the process but remaining a full game behind the equally in-form Aces.
Alaska had a tougher fourth quarter, but the Aces still triumphed just the same, 99-88 over Barako Bull, to raise their league-leading record to 9-1.
The victory was a repeat of the first round conquest of the Aces of the Energy Boosters, a win that touched off a string of six straight that had Alaska taking control of the reins and left everyone chasing them.
San Miguel’s victory also gave the Beermen a sweep of their series with the Whoppers in the elimination round.
“We’re trying to win as many games as we can to offset the injuries to our key players,” San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen said, referring to Jay Washington, out with a bad back, and Danny Ildefonso, who is sidelined with a foot injury.
“I think our defense was the key tonight. Defense should always be constant for us while we await the return of those two,” he added.
Santos, the former Burger King cornerstone, also hauled down 12 rebounds and had six blocks in an overpowering performance that obviously made coach Yeng Guiao he still had the reedy former FEU mainstay as a Whopper.
The first time they met, which was a 117-99 victory for San Miguel, Santos had 28 points and 18 boards. Burger King absorbed a second straight loss in a 3-7 card. Richard Yee led the Whoppers with 14 points.
Alaska, meanwhile, sealed the best start in the history of its franchise, surpassing the 8-1 mark it had in opening the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup.
The Aces, in dealing the Boosters their sixth straight loss in a ninth-running 2-8 card, raced to a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter after their second unit hit its mark in several scoring spurts that bridged the final two periods.
A big run by Barako Bull entering the final five minutes had the Boosters coming with 88-93 from as far down a 68-90. But that was the best that they could muster as Aris Dimaunahan missed two free throws and a hurried three-pointer.
Former two-time MVP Willie Miller had a double-double game with 11 points and 10 assists with LA Tenorio and Sonny Thoss adding 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Aces duplicated their 99-83 first round victory over Barako Bull.
Reynel Hugnatan paced Alaska with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Alaska and San Miguel are both trying to win as many games as they can in the eliminations and keep the inside tracks they have towards securing automatic semifinal berths that come by finishing in the top two.
Yousif Aljamal, the former San Beda standout in the NCAA, paced the Boosters with 21 points.
