Beermen oust Painters, advance to semis

MANILA, Philippines -- The San Miguel Beermen exploded in the third quarter and never looked back, booting the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters out of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, 127-122, Friday evening at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The win gave San Miguel the second ticket to the conference’s semifinals.

The Beermen erupted for 42 points in the third quarter, turning a tied halftime game into a one-sided affair.

With the game tied at 71 with roughly a minute into the third quarter following a technical free throw by Rey Nambatac, the Beermen unleashed a 10-3 run capped by a Bennie Boatwright deuce to take an 81-74 lead.

A few minutes later, Rain or Shine cut the lead to five, 80-85, with a 3-pointer by rookie Keith Datu.

The Beermen then uncorked a 24-9 run capped by a 3-pointer by Jericho Cruz to give themselves a 109-89 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

The lead grew to as much as 22 points, 125-103, in the final canto with 6:18 remaining in the game.

Demetrius Treadwell, Santi Santillan and Datu then teamed up to cut the lead to 10, 125-115, with 4:34 remaining.

The Elasto Painters were able to inch closer and turn the game to a single digit affair, 127-119, with less than two minutes left.

Datu’s trey cut the lead to five, 127-122, but it was too late as he made it in the final 11 seconds of the game.

This halted the Painters’ furious six-game winning streak in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Boatwright had another high-octane outing for San Miguel, finishing with 41 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Jericho Cruz chipped in 20 points in 23 minutes off the bench.

Treadwell had an all-around game for Rain or Shine, tallying 22 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and a block in the losing effort. Nambatac added 16 markers off the bench.

San Miguel will be facing either Barangay Ginebra or NorthPort in the semifinals.