Philippine Sports News and Updates

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beer started strong and finished even stronger as it walloped Barako Energy Coffee, 106-82, to gain a piece of the lead in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Astrodome last night.

The Beermen seized control early behind the exploits of Dondon Hontiveros and Alex Cabagnot and finished pulling away on the sterling efforts of Dorian Peña, Jay Washington and Olsen Racela.

Import Gabe Freeman drew tremendous support from his local teammates as the Beermen tied the Coca-Cola Tigers for the lead with 3-1 win-loss cards.

Hontiveros went 4-of-4 from the field in the opening quarter and finished with a team-high 20 points on top of four rebounds and one assist.

Freeman put in 17 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two shot blocks with Washington, Cabagnot and Peña adding at least 11 points each for the Beermen who made it 3-0 over the Energy Food and Drinks franchise this season.

The Coffee Masters reeled to their fourth straight loss after winning their first game in the reinforced tourney against the Sta. Lucia Realtors.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine and Barangay Ginebra clash today in the second leg of the Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour in Victorias, Negros Occidental.

MANILA, Philippines – Former PBA Most Valuable Player James Yap and his Derby Ace team mate Mark Pingris continue to lead the balloting for the league’s All-Star Game.

According to PBA.ph, Yap remains to be the top preference of basketball fans for the April 22-25 spectacle in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Yap has so far received 39,962 votes, the highest among the 10 leading players that will compose the First 5 of the North and South squads.

Thus, the Derby Ace shooting guard is already guaranteed a starting slot for the South.

Pingris, meanwhile, runs second in the over-all number of votes with 29,538, which virtually gives him a sport for the North’s starting 5.

Talk ‘N Text endured Rain or Shine’s big endgame rally and Gabe Norwood’s last second missed attempt to escape with a chilling 99-96 victory Friday night in the KFC-PBA Fiesta Cup.

The Tropang Texters held a 97-90 lead entering the final two minutes of play, but went 2-of-6 from the foul line the rest of the way that allowed the Elasto Painters to rally back and threatened in the last five seconds, 99-96.

But Norwood, who nailed a pressure-packed three-pointer in Rain or Shine’s previous play, missed a potential game-tying trey, his shot way off line as the final buzzer sounded.

The Texters finally barged into the win column following a 97-90 loss to Barangay Ginebra in the opener, but the win was not enough to bring a smile on coach Chot Reyes’ face.

"This is a very disappointing win. We can't seal the deal and we were just lucky that Gabe Norwood missed that shot," he said of the Elasto Painters’ last second play.

Ranidel De Ocampo finished with 20 points on a spectacular 7-of-8 field goal shooting and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. He had 10 in the fourth period when he conspired with Mac Mac Cardona in a telling run that put the Tropang Texters in control for good.

Cardona scored half of his 14 points during that stretch as he converted a basket on a fastbreak, made a lay-up after a superb cut, knocked in a triple before dishing off his only assist for the game to Mark Yee underneath, enabling the Tropang Texters to break out of an 86-86 standoff to seize a 97-90 margin with 2:20 left in the game.