MANILA — The reigning back-to-back champions San Miguel Beermen used an 8-0 blast in the endgame to overpower the TNT KaTropa Texters, 98-94, on Saturday night to finish the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round with a league-best 10-1 win-loss card. The Beermen were already assured of the top seed even before coming away with their ninth straight win. Finishing the elims with a 6-5 card, TNT is now out of the running for the second seed with the twice-to-beat edge in the playoffs and, at best, faces a best-of-three quarterfinals with a still unknown opponent. Two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo led SMB with a huge double-double of 20 points and 22 rebounds. He found plenty of support with Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos finishing with 19 and 18 markers, respectively. With the score tied at 94-all, Cabagnot fired a dagger three-pointer that proved to be the game-winner. TNT's Larry Fonacier tried to knot the score with a three-point shot but missed. Santos then put the finishing touch to the SMB win by splitting his charities. Star 120, Meralco 73 The Star Hotshots demolished the also-rans Meralco Bolts by a whopping 47 points, 120-73, to clinch a quarterfinals spot. It was the biggest winning margin this conference and the eighth all-time in league history. With their third straight victory, the Hotshots improved to a 6-4 card, bolstering their chances of grabbing the coveted second seed in the playoffs, especially with only the lowly Mahindra as their last quarterfinals assignment on Wednesday. The Bolts, who were the losing finalists in the last Governors' Cup, suffered their worst beating in franchise history to end the conference at the bottom with a 3-8 record. Star's Allein Maliksi once again sizzled from long distance, banging in 25 points, including five three-pointers in just 20 minutes. Paul Lee and rookie Jio Jalalon added 15 points apiece. Aldrech Ramos chipped in 13 while Justin Melton, Mark Barroca and Ian Sangalang shelled out 10 markers each. The Hotshots lived up to their name by shooting 56 percent from the field while limiting the Bolts to just 38 percent shooting. Chris Newsome was the lone double-digit scorer for Meralco with 13 points, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Games on Sunday: GlobalPort (5-5) vs. Rain or Shine (5-4) and NLEX (2-8) vs. Barangay Ginebra (5-5)
