The Alaska Aces dealt the Sta. Lucia Realtors a second straight setback, 94-87, Friday night to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the semifinals of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup. Joe De Vance and former PBA two-time Most Valuable Player Willie Miller scored 17 points each to power Alaska past Sta. Lucia. Dennis Espino scored 20 points to lead the Realtors, who led most parts of the first half only to fall short in the end. In the other semifinal duel, the San Miguel Beermen struck back at the Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 112-103, to level their best-of-seven series at 1-all. Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Seigle paced San Miguel with 23 points each to help avenge their 129-100 loss in the opener of the series last Wednesday. Three other Beermen finished in double figures – Bonbon Custodio scored 16 points, Jay Washington chipped in 14, and Marc Pingris added 11. However, San Miguel head coach Chot Tanquingcen attributed the win to his team's much improved defense which silenced such prolific Talk N Text scorers as Mac-Mac Cardona and Ren-Ren Ritualo who only scored eight points apiece. Ranidel de Ocampo led the Texters with 19 points and 10 rebounds – his 10th double-double in the conference. Jimmy Alapag knocked in 17 points and five assists while Harvey Carey collected 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Aside from spearheading the San Miguel offense together with Seigle, Hontiveros also shackled Cardona, limiting the latter to his second lowest conference output. On the other hand, Custodio hounded Ritualo all night long, muzzling the TNT shooter's guns. After two days' rest, the Beermen appeared in high spirits as they seized full control right from the first quarter. They never let up as they lead by as much as 16 points, 84-68, towards the end of the third quarter. San Miguel won despite the absence of Lordy Tugade, who sat out the game due to a nagging left knee tendonitis. Center Dorian Pena also had to be pulled out for good early in the third quarter after suffering a right foot sprain. Making up for this was the return of Olsen Racela from a one-game suspension. The veteran point guard gave stability and poise back to the Beermen, earning high praises from his coach. The Texters launched a last-ditch rally in the fourth quarter, trimming San Miguel's lead to just six, 87-93, on a five-point spurt capped by Jimmy Alapag's triple, with 5:46 left in the game. But that was the closest they could get. Talk N Text outrebounded San Miguel, 59-46, but had a poorer shooting clip at 40-of-94 to San Miguel's 40-of-86. The Beermen even held the Texters to just 19-of-48 field shooting in the first half as they limited TNT's top three shooters - Ritualo, Alapag and Cardona – to just 19 points in the first 24 minutes. __
