MANILA: San Miguel Beer needed three quarters to warm up, but when the Beermen did, Air21 didn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

The Beermen scored 38 fourth quarter points on Wednesday night and walloped the Express, 93-85, to claim No. 2 seed and draw the second lightest assignment in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs starting next week at the Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing by 18 points late in the third and entering the fourth with a 17-point deficit staring them in the face, the Beermen responded with aplomb using lethal offense and a porous defensive effort to wind up their elimination round stint with a 7-2 record.

Chris Ross presided upon the mighty San Miguel comeback, playing great on both ends with the San Miguel defense holding the Express to 13 fourth quarter points.

San Miguel opened up the fourth period with an 18-4 run that clipped a 55-72 deficit to just 76-73.

Joseph Yeo tried to stop the bleeding for the Express by nailing a difficult layup off the glass for a 78-73 lead, but the Beermen answered with the game’s most crippling run – a 14-0 blitz – that left the Express gasping for air.

“Yes, we definitely did,” San Miguel active assistant Todd Purves said when someone told them that the Beermen flirted with disaster. “We shot the ball terribly in the first three periods.

“We missed a lot of shots that we normally make,” Purves continued. “But we got some good looks out there.”

Kevin Jones led the Beermen with 19 points and 14 rebounds, Arwind Santos finished with 18 and seven and Ross had six of his nine points and all four of his steals in that telling fourth quarter performance.

Wesley Witherspoon led all Air21 shooters with 27 and Sean Anthony scored 14. But the duo, who combined for 34 points in the first three periods, could only shoot a combined seven in the fourth.

With the San Miguel win, Alaska was left out in the cold, its hopes of forging a tie for No. 2 and claiming the second twice-to-beat privilege via a KO game against the Beermen vanishing into thin air.

The best the Aces could hope for going into the final elimination round playdate on Sunday is No. 3 and a clash with No. 6 in a best-of-three series, and for that to happen, Alaska must beat San Mig Coffee in the 3 p.m. contest.

Action takes a break until Easter Sunday in observance of the Lenten season.

Rain or Shine battles Barangay Ginebra in the only other game slated that day with the Elasto Painters seeking a win to seal at least No. 6 and a place in a best-of-three series.

Ginebra can also claim sixth spot with a victory, but a loss would put the Gin Kings in eighth spot and put them in a clash with No. 1 Talk N’ Text. Ginebra would need to beat the Tropang Texters two straight times to advance to the Final Four.

Air21 closed out with a 3-6 record and will claim No. 7 over Ginebra should the Kings lose to the Painters – and the right to face San Miguel again in the quarterfinals – by virtue of the winner-over-the-other rule, having beaten the Kings in their only meeting in the eliminations here.

Meralco is at 5-4 and will land at No. 5 at the worst.