Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen won their final elimination round game, beating GlobalPort Batang Pier, 106-94, Tuesday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Unfortunately, the Beermen's winning margin was not enough to carry them into the playoffs by virtue of their inferior quotient. San Miguel thus closed its elimination round campaign with a 4-7 record, tying its victims and idle Kia Carnival at ninth to 11th place. The Beermen needed to win by about 30 points to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. The results of the two games Wednesday, the last day of the elimination round, will determine the teams' final placing into the playoffs. MVP June Mar Fajardo played his best game yet in the current season posting 31 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks in 43 minutes of action. After a so-so start, import Arizona Reid heated up in the second half to finish with 20 points. Chris Ross added 15 points while Alex Cabagnot chipped in with 13 markers, including back-to-back triples in the endgame that allowed the Beermen to put some more distance from the Batang Pier. Chris Lutz posted 11 points while Arwind Santos finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Import Derrick Caracter led GlobalPort with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Top local gunner Terrence Romeo added 15 points while Keith Jensen and Ryan Buenafe chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Barako Bull 91, NLEX 85 Chico Lanete drilled back-to-back three-pointers in the endgame to lift the Barako Bull Energy to a 91-85 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors. The win snapped the Energy's four-game losing streak, improving Barako Bull's chances of making it to the playoffs after finishing the elimination round with a 5-6 win-loss record. The Energy are now at solo seventh place. Only the top eight teams qualify for the quarterfinal round which begins Friday. The loss snapped the Road Warriors' five-game winning streak as NLEX dropped to 6-5, currently good for solo fifth place. The result hardly mattered for the Road Warriors as they already qualified for the playoffs even before the game. They are set to meet the Meralco Bolts in a best-of-three quarterfinals if Meralco wins its last elimination round game against last-placer Blackwater Wednesday. NLEX was ahead, 85-79, with about six minutes left in the game. But Lanete knocked down two straight three-pointers to lead a 12-0 Barako Bull run to score the all-important win. Lanete was the top local scorer for Barako Bull with 13 points. Import Solomon Alabi led the Energy with 29 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. Solomon Mercado added 12 points and nine assists for Barako Bull while putting then handcuff on prolific NLEX import Al Thornton, who was held to 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting. JC Ital and Jake Pascual added 10 points each for Barako Bull. Mac Cardona was the top scorer for NLEX with 15 points. Aldrech Ramos and Asi Taulava added nine points apiece. Games Wednesday: Meralco Bolts vs. Blackwater Elite; Alaska Aces vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings.
