Beermen silence TNT’s big guns

Tiras Wade figuring in a verbal tussle with coach Chot Reyes then later going after referee Throngy Aldava said it all.

The San Miguel Beermen continued to play A-1 basketball coming from another long respite, leaving the Talk n Text Tropang Texters utterly disappointed.

The Beermen became more formidable on the return of two-time MVP winner Danny Ildefonso, stretching their unbeaten run to eight games with a 98-87 whipping of the Texters in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
Ildefonso came through with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his very first game in the season, contributing key plays in San Miguel's strong finish.

Gabe Freeman churned out 24 points and 18 rebounds, totally outclassing Wade who came out flat, finishing with six points on 2-of-15 field-goal shooting.

Going into the game, Wade was the league leading scorer with an average of 33 points an outing.

The Tropang Texters suffered a fourth loss against five wins, struggling with top local Macmac Cardona also coming out cold.

Cardona, the Philippine Cup Finals MVP, was good for only two points -- his worst output in almost three years. He was 0-of-10 from the field -- worst by any player since the 0-of-11 shooting by Nic Belasco last December.

Before the first half ended, Wade and Reyes were in a heated verbal tussle on the TnT bench.

Reyes opted to return Wade in the third quarter before deciding to keep him on the bench in the last seven minutes of play.

After the final buzzer, Wade vented his ire on the referees, going after Aldaba. He's likely to draw stiff penalty from the Commissioner's Office for his misconduct.

There were words former Rashad Bell is set to replace Wade in the next few days.

Exploits by Jason Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag, Ali Peek and Jared Dillinger had TnT keeping the game close in the first three quarters of play.

The Texters were actually still ahead at 71-66 early in the fourth before the Beermen came through with a telling 18-3 run to seize control.

There was no stopping San Miguel after surging ahead at 84-74 with four minutes left to play.

The Beermen continued to play steady, playing only a second game in 35 days. (NC)

The scores:

San Miguel 98 - Freeman 24, Hontiveros 18, Racela 13, Washington 12, Ildefonso 11, Villanueva 7, Gonzales 4, Pena 3, Custodio 2, Pingris 2, Pennisi 2.

Talk N' Text 87 - Castro 15, Alapag 15, R.De Ocampo 14, Peek 14, Dillinger 10, Wade 6, Carey 6, Ritualo 3, Cardona 2, Y.De Ocampo 2, Lao 0.

Quarterscores: 17-22, 44-44, 64-69, 98-87.



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