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[av_heading heading=’Beermen PBA PH Cup top seed’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Monday, January 23, 2017
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Heading for the basket, San Miguel Beermen guard Brian Heruela (1) is flanked by JR Quiñahan (48) and Yutien Andrada of the GlobalPort Batang Pier during their PBA Philippine Cup match on Saturday, Jan. 21. PBA
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MANILA – The San Miguel Beermen has locked in on the top seed heading into the playoffs with a 106-100 win over the GlobalPort Batang Pier in the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup on Saturday night at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu.
Arwind Santos led the way with double-double 31 points and 10 rebounds for the defending champion Beermen, which tallied its eighth consecutive victory to improve to a 9-1 win-loss slate.
Marcio Lassiter chipped in 22 markers, while reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo contributed double-double 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Beermen, which played without Alex Cabagnot.
With the defeat, the Batang Pier slid down to joint third place with a 5-4 slate along with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, Blackwater Elite, TNT Katropa and Alaska Aces, which defeated the also-ran Mahindra Floodbuster over at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
The game was tight for both teams in the first three quarters before the Beermen took a slim 86-85 lead early in the final frame on free throws by Lassiter. Conversions by Santos, Chris Ross and Ronald Tubid extended the lead to 93-89.
The Batang Pier came to within two points several times with the last at 97-95 before the Beermen built a seven-point advantage at 102-95 on back-to-back conversions by Santos.
Five straight points by Terrence Romeo brought the Batang Pier to within 104-100 with just 10.6 seconds remaining in the game, but free throws by Santos and Fajardo sealed the final score for the Beermen.
“I’m very proud of my team because they played hard and played as a team. I hope na ‘di ito ‘yung pinaka-best namin in the playoffs because there, it’s a different story,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria.
Stanley Pringle top-scored with 21 points, while Romeo flirted with double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Batang Pier, which was on a two-game winning run before the defeat./PN
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