By JONAS TERRADO
Game Today
(Ynares Center, Antipolo City)
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Alaska
(San Miguel leads series 2-0)
Defending champion San Miguel Beer goes for the sweep of Alaska tonight in the resumption of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series that was postponed two days earlier due to inclement weather.
The Beermen try to secure the first trip to the finals of the midseason conference in the 7 p.m. match at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City, hoping that the momentum gained in winning the first two games of the series won’t be affected by Wednesday’s postponement.
SMB claimed the series opener in convincing fashion, 92-79, Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena before erasing a 16-point deficit in the second quarter to prevail, 105-94, Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Beermen coach Leo Austria sounded as if a second straight finals appearance is a mere formality.
“We’re not thinking of the championship, dahil kung para sa amin, darating yan e. But I think it will be a good series against Ginebra, dahil alam naman natin they are the hottest team in the league right now,” Austria said.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel was seeking to gain a 2-0 lead against Rain or Shine in their own best-of-five affair being played at presstime at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Ginebra-Rain or Shine series was also postponed last Tuesday due to bad weather.
Import Renaldo Balkman and June Mar Fajardo have been the main reasons for SMB’s twin victories, with Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot providing the needed support.
Alaska coach Alex Compton, meanwhile, has maintained his no-quit attitude even if the Aces are on the brink of elimination.
Compton has been pleased with the effort the Aces has put up since the opener, with import Diamon Simpson being the main source of production and rookie Jeron Teng having his best performance since returning from a stabbing incident with 13 points in Game 2.
But Alaska will have to get more from Vic Manuel, whose presence hasn’t been felt despite averaging 15.5 points in the series.
