Hotdogs send SMB to Magic 4

Purefood gave sister team San Miguel Beer a tremendous lift when it stopped Red Bull, 123-112, and handed the Beermen the last berth in the PBA Governors Cup Magic Four at the Philsports Arena last night.

The Hotdogs gave the Beermen a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals while keeping their slim hopes of surviving the elimination phase.

They would figure in a double-playoff for the last quarterfinals slot if the Alaska Aces beat the Shell Turbo Chargers in their game which was being played at presstime. A victory by the Aces would knock out the Hotdogs and the Tanduay Rhum Masters and give the Aces automatic entry into the next round.

"Papakainin si (Shell coach) Perry (Ronquillo) ng pagkaing pampapayat, kapag tinalo nila ang Alaska," said Purefoods coach Eric Altamirano in jest after the game.

"Kanit papaano buhay pa rin. Pero kahit ma-eliminate kami, ang importante is that we made a grand exit," Altamirano added. Playing what could be their last game in the season, the Hotdogs came out with all cylinders firing. And this was best typified by team manager Rene Pardo who was thrown out of the game for entering the court and pushing referee Meynard Ballecer in disgust on what he thought was a goal-tending violation not called by the game officials in one crucial play entering the homestretch. Pardo is likely to draw huge fine from the Commissioner’s Office.

Pardo’s ouster, however, seemed to only fire up Purefoods as the Hotdogs shifted their game into high gear at crunchtime, thus, completing a big win that closed out their campaign at 5-8.

Red Bull, which had a shot at the No. 4 ranking in the quarters, instead finished in the lower half of the chart as it ended up with a 6-7 card.

The Hotdogs showcased what was probably their sharpest form offensively, shooting 63 percent from the field. Alvin Patrimonio, who will turn a year older on Saturday, was at his sharpest, missing only one attempt in the night. He was 1-of-1 from the three-point area, had the same clip from the foul line and was 6-of-7 from the two -point zone as he scored 16 points. Derrick Brown was 70 percent from the field and poured in 43 points, 12 rebounds and three assists while Noy Castillo fired four triples and finished with 24 points with Rey Evangelista adding 16, and Richard Yee 11.