Phone Pals halt Beermen’s romp

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Mobiline caught San Miguel napping as the Phone Pals dealt the Beermen their first loss in over two months in their PBA All-Filipino Cup out-of-town tussle at the Bren Guiao Convention Center here last night.

The Phone Pals pounded and pummeled the surprisingly erratic Beermen, scoring an 83-71 reversal to stop their skid and their rivals’ searing run of victories dating back to last year.

It was a morale-boosting victory for the Phone Pals, who set out to play the fancied Beermen coming off back-to-back losses to the Red Bull Thunder and the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

Mobiline jacked up its win-loss record to 2-3 while handing San Miguel its first defeat in five games this season.

Victor Pablo tossed in 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, taking over from where Jerry Codiñera left off as the Phone Pals buried San Miguel into a hole it never got off because of pathetic shooting.

Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso fired 19 points apiece but the entire team wavered when needed as the Beermen made only one of 15 attempts from the floor in the fourth quarter.

Mobiline methodically worked to build huge leads, taking a 57-45 lead late in the third quarter.

And when the fourth period came, the Phone Pals blitzed some more, taking a 17-point advantage by scoring seven straight points that had the Mobiline scampering to a 66-47 lead with 10:37 to go.

Codiñera jumpstarted the Mobiline offense with seven points in an 11-2 opening salvo.

Meanwhile, action resumes at the Araneta Coliseum today with a highly-emotional game expected as Johnny Abarrientos meets his former team on the floor for the first time after being dealt to his new ballclub.

Abarrientos is excited and hopes to churn out a solid game in a bid to deliver a statement.

"Talagang excited ako na makalaro ang dati kong team," said Abarrientos on the eve of the much-awaited Pop Cola-Alaska Milk tussle.

Pop Cola and Alaska, which created a big news in the off-season by closing a major trade deal that also involved Poch Juinio, Ali Peek and Jon Ordonio, clash at 6:30 p.m. after Purefoods and Ginebra collide at 4:15.

"One job of the coach is to know when to push or pull his players. This time, I think I have to pull Johnny a little dahil baka sumobra ang gigil, hindi lumabas ang game niya," said Pop Cola coach Chot Reyes.

However, Abarrientos said he doesn’t harbor so much ill feeling towards his former team anymore. He said: "Medyo humupa na ang sama ng loob ko. But nevertheless, pinaghandaan ko ang game namin."