The giant in San Miguel Beer is awake, and GlobalPort was the first to feel the hurt.

Sorry upset losers in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup debut last Saturday, the Beermen on Friday night showcased their full might behind import Tyler Wilkerson and manhandled the Batang Pier, 120-109, for their first win in the elimination round at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Wilkerson scored 49 points in the first three quarters to finish with 52 and the Beermen dropped 19 total three-point bombs on the hapless Batang Pier, who were made to look so helpless on a night they played their hearts out.

“It’s a good win for us because we were pressured to win our first game,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria told reporters, referring to the shock 106-99 loss at the hands of Mahindra in Laguna.

That loss touched off the whirlwind San Miguel performance on the offensive end, as the Beermen did it even with former MVP Arwind Santos sitting this one out and Wilkerson slowing down in the fourth quarter before fouling out with less than two minutes remaining.

Marcio Lassiter scored 28 points and had eight conversions from beyond the arc, while Wilkerson accounted for seven as the Beermen tied the sixth all-time most made from that territory and definitely looked scary as far as the rest of the field is concerned.

Calvin Warner led the Batang Pier with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Terrence Romeo finished with 22.

Stanley Pringle, the other half of GlobalPort’s dynamic duo together with Romeo, finished with 19 points before limping out of the court halfway through the fourth period after stepping on Ronald Tubid’s foot and spraining his left ankle.

Meanwhile, Mahindra, playing with newfound confidence, nipped formidable NLEX in the first game, 106-99 as the Enforcers improved their franchise-best start to 3-1 for solo second place.

Augustus Gilchrist, unimpressive in his first two games, scored 30 points and had 10 rebounds and Mahindra’s local crew provided excellent support with five of them scoring in twin digits that doomed the Road Warriors to their second loss in four games.

LA Revilla and KG Canaleta were big, especially in the fourth period, as the Enforcers survived the loss of a 12-point lead and easily erased a three-point deficit entering the waning minutes.

The win was also the second straight for the Enforcers, whom coach Chito Victolero said now have the belief in themselves after applying all the lessons learned from a forgettable maiden season last year.

“The players have matured,” Victolero told scribes after his Enforcers moved within just half-a-game off the lead currently being held by the undefeated Meralco Bolts. “They now know how to win, how to close out games. They are more focused, more aggressive and they want to prove something.”

Revilla, the 5-foot-7 point guard, hit two baskets from very close range right in the gut of the NLEX defense which kept the Road Warriors within arm’s length going into the final two minutes.

Canaleta, who was rumored to be on the trading block before the conference started, finished with 21 points, eight of them coming in the fourth period.

There were three players who finished with double-doubles for the Enforcers, with Aldrech Ramos, who had 26 points in an upset victory over San Miguel Beer last Saturday in Binan, Laguna, coming off the bench to shoot 12 and grab 10 rebounds.

Chito Jaime made a rare start at the power forward spot primarily to defend against Al Thornton. But he shone on the other end as well with 15 points that went with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Thornton finished with 29 points but was held to the minimum by the Mahindra defense in the fourth period, where he managed to tally only six.

Sean Anthony fired 18 points and Asi Taulava, the 42-year-old veteran, had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Road Warriors, who failed to win back-to-back games yet again.

Gilchrist also showed sustained improvement, validating Victolero’s belief in his silent-operating import.

“We’re very happy (with Gilchrist),” Victolero said when asked if Gilchrist’s spot in the roster is cemented. “He’s not high-scoring, but he does everything. He’s a team player and all I am asking of him now is to be a leader.”