San Miguel books semis seat

In the end, powerhouse San Miguel Beer still took the shortcut to the semifinal round, overcoming a bumpy ride entering the homestretch of the elimination round.

The second wind SMB gotten on the return of Gabe Freeman carried the team all the way to a playoff win over B-MEG Derby Ace Friday night, allowing the Beermen to join the Talk n Text Tropang Texters in an early entry into the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference Final Four.

The Beermen withstood the Llamados, 88-83, in a furious battle at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, thus, getting tremendous boost in their title-retention campaign.

They will take at least a two-week rest before resuming their defense of the championship of they won over the Barangay Ginebra Kings last year.

San Miguel is looking to become the first team to successfully defend a title since Red Bull topped the Commissioner"s Cup in years 2001 and 2002.

"This is God"s blessing. But I would say the same, we are going to be judged at what happens after the conference," said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen. "That"s the reality we have to face.

The challenge is how to handle the break  one thing we didn"t handle well in the last conference," added Tanquingcen, recalling their failed bid in the most recent Philippine Cup after an outright semis passage.

Freeman got away with a double-double game with 20 points and 19 rebounds while Dondon Hontiveros rifled in three triples and finished with 21 points as San Miguel stopped Derby Ace on its tracks, relegating the Llamados to no. 3 playoff seeding in the process.

The Llamados, the Philippine Cup rulers, will play the wildcard survivor in a best-of-five quarterfinal series.

Jay Washington and Alex Cabagnot also played big for the Beermen as they ended the Llamados" six-game run while stretching their own streak to three games since Freeman"s return from a two-game layoff.

James Yap erupted for 28 points while Nino Canaleta and Rafi Reavis combined for 26 points and 15 rebounds but the Llamados got minimal numbers from import Cliff Brown.

The Derby Ace import struggled for nine points and 10 rebounds and had a hard time defending against his prolific SMB counterpart.

Still, the Llamados put up a tough fight, rallying from early double-digit deficits to engage the Beermen in a fierce battle in the payoff period.

Hontiveros banged away six points in the final minute helping SMB finally hurdle Derby Ace"s never-say-die stand.

The hard-nosed Cebuano player and Washington exerted much effort early as the Beermen gained double-digit spreads right in the first period.

They combined for four triples and a total of 25 points in the first half which went in their favor at 42-31. (SB)

- PBA.ph

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