The defending champion San Miguel Beermen prevailed over the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, 88-83, Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to grab the last automatic semifinals berth in the PBA Fiesta Conference. Dondon Hontiveros scored 21 points while Gabe Freeman had 20 as they led the Beermen to a playoff win that ended the Llamados' six-game winning streak and their hopes of an outright passage into the semifinals. Freeman also grabbed 19 rebounds. The Beermen thus joined early semifinals qualifier Talk N Text Tropang Texters. James Yap once again shook off his marital woes with celebrity wife and presidential sister Kris Aquino to topscore for the Llamados with 25 points. His heroics, however, were not enough as the Llamados tumbled as the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals. They will meet the winner of the do-or-die wildcard round involving four teams. In the other playoff match, the Barangay Ginebra Kings pulverized the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 115-88, to earn an outright quarterfinals ticket as the No. 5 seed. Finally, Ginebra found the right import to help its cause as Christopher Daniels showed all-around brilliance in his debut on Philippine soil. Daniels, Ginebra's fourth import this conference, churned in 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, hauled down 19 rebounds, and also had six assists, three steals and two blocks. Last year's Most Valuable Player Jayjay Helterbrand regained his shooting touch to score 17 points, including 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. He also had eight assists.
