Beermen, Aces assured of playoff

San Miguel Beer and Alaska Milk carved out decisive wins over Shell and Sta. Lucia Realty, assuring themselves of outright spots in the Selecta PBA All-Filipino Cup playoffs at the Ynares Sports Center last night.

The Beermen repulsed the Turbochargers, 62-54, for a guaranteed seat in the semifinals while the Aces ripped the Realtors, 67-57, for an automatic passage into the quarterfinals.

The Beermen rode high on the sterling games of Dorian Pena, Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Ildefonso as they nailed the win that eventually rewarded them early passage into the semis along with the Red Bull Thunder.

Meanwhile, the Aces cut loose from a tight game in the second quarter and sustained their romp in the last two periods, pulling off the victory that assured the Uytengsu ballclub a seat in the quarters.

Beating the Realtors for the first time in the season about to end, the Aces kept their tradition insofar as playoffs stint is concerned. For the record, Alaska is one of only three teams – the others being San Miguel Beer and Talk N Text – which have yet to miss any playoffs since the format started in 1999.

Alaska coach Tim Cone needed to focus on a compact eight-man rotation in pulling one over coach Norman Black and his Sta. Lucia team this campaign.

Kenneth Duremdes, John Arigo, EJ Feihl, Ali Peek and Don Allado led the charge of the small bunch, responding well on Cone’s call as they handed the Realtors their fifth loss against only three wins in the season-ending tourney.