Beermen survive Tigers’ fury

The San Miguel Beermen’s reign as PBA Fiesta Cup champions lives on.

San Miguel bucked the specter of two straight defeats at the hands of Coca-Cola, pulling off a scary 69-67 win to survive into the wildcard round of the San Mig Coffee-backed tourney at the Astrodome last night.

Danny Ildefonso came through with crucial back-to-back baskets in the closing seconds, bailing the team out of trouble and giving the Beermen a crack at the quarterfinals against the Air21 Express in the best-of-three wildcard round beginning today in the same venue.

San Miguel and Air21 dispute the right to face Talk n Text in the quarterfinals. Alaska Milk and Sta. Lucia Realty clash in the other wildcard pairing with the winner advancing to the quarters against Red Bull.

"We’ve got a big sigh of relief," said coach Jong Uichico as his Beermen avoided what could have been a sorry last-place finish in the tourney which they won over the Phone Pals last year.

The distinction went to the Tigers for the second straight time.

"We’re really struggling. It’s good we still pulled through and were able to make the next round. But we have to improve if we’re to look forward to competing further more in this tournament," said Uichico.

"We’ve never been in this situation before where every game is do-or-die. But there’s always the first time and we’ll try to survive. These are the cards on the table that we have to deal with," Uichico added.

The amiable San Miguel mentor thought they would have a more difficult time against Air21. Curiously, it would be a battle between the league’s best offensive team in the Express and the best defensive squad in the Beermen.

"We have a job cut out for us in Air21. They would be more difficult because they have more weapons that we have to contain. You take one and you have to contend with another," said Uichico.

Nic Belasco and Dondon Hontiveros bounced back from flat games the last time out in helping the Beermen beat the Tigers in their survival playoff.

Belasco paced the team with 16 points with 14 coming in the first half. Hontiveros added 10, including five entering the homestretch.

Hontiveros’ five-point binge tied the count at 65-all before Ildefonso took over to win it for the Beermen.

Belasco buckled down to work right away, leading everyone in the first half with 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the three-point zone and 2-of-5 clip from the two-point area.

Largely behind Belasco’s efforts, the Beermen took a 38-31 lead at halftime. They got an extra point on a charity by Chris Calaguio off a technical foul by a Coke support staff member in the closing seconds.

Belasco, who went 0-of-9 from the field Friday, was 2-of-2 from the three-point area in the opening quarter. The Tigers, however, outgunned the Beermen early on and enjoyed a 19-17 edge going into the second period.