MANILA — This season's Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beermen cruised to its seventh straight victory, coming from behind to defeat the Commissioner's Cup champion Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 101-96, Tuesday night in the PBA Governors' Cup. Down by 17 points in the first half, the Beermen stepped on the gas and never let go to overtake the Texters and pull away toward the finish line. SMB thus clinched a final four finish that carries a twice-to-beat advantage with only two games left in its elimination round schedule. The Beermen are just a shade behind the league-best Barako Bull Energy (6-1). TNT fell to a 3-5 slate, sliding into a tie for ninth to 10th place with idle Ginebra. Import Arizona Reid led SMB with 29 points, 13 rebounds and five assists while Marcio Lassiter added 15 points. Arwind Santos contributed 14 points and eight assists while Alex Cabagnot and Ronald Tubid chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jayson Castro was the top scorer for TNT with 25 points. Import Steffphon Pettigrew posted 17, while Larry Fonacier and Willie Miller added 11 and 10 markers, respectively. Alaska 89, Meralco 75 The Alaska Aces moved closer to the top, outhustling the Meralco Bolts in the homestretch for an 89-75 victory, their second straight and sixth overall in eight games. The two teams fought tooth and nail for more than three quarters until Aces unleashed their final burst of energy in the endgame that the Bolts could no longer match. Import Romeo Travis finished with a team-high 24 points and a PBA career-high 18 rebounds on top of four assists, and two blocks. Alaska guards Jayvee Casio and Chris Banchero chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Calvin Abueva Dondon Hontiveros added eight points apiece. Abueva also grabbed nine boards, six of them on the offensive end. The Aces won despite starter Cyrus Baguio glued on the bench due to ankle sprain. Bruiser Vic Manuel also suffered an injury when he dislocated his right pinkie and had to leave the game with still 8:05 to play. Meralco dropped to an even 4-4 win-loss card in a tie for fourth to fifth place with GlobalPort. The Bolts were led by their import Andre Emmett who churned out 28 points and 10 rebounds. Cliff Hodge added 12 points and eight rebounds despite being saddled by foul trouble. Asian import Seiya Ando from Japan scored 11 points while Gary David had 10. Ahead by just a point, 71-70, midway in the fourth quarter, the Aces went on an 18-5 run to seal the win. Games Wednesday: Barako Bull Energy vs. Kia Carnival; NLEX Road Warriors vs. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
