SMB's battle against Sta. Lucia

“SMB is one scary team on paper and even scarier when you get to play with them”, said PBA commentator Magoo Marjon.

It was a holy war in the south as PBA took the game on the road with the San Miguel Beermen against the Sta. Lucia Realtors at Victorias City Sports and Amusement Center (just a 3-hour-drive from my hometown).

Chemistry was once an issue for the Beermen but with their last performance against the Painters, they finally found their rhythm and figured out the characters and roles of each and everyone of them, making their team as dangerous as they could possibly be. There were, however, some rough spots for them especially as they did not start the conference well, but just as the series goes, they are becoming more consistent. Etching and gelling together as a team, Coach Siot Tangquincen couldn’t be more happier.

Just like any other teams, the San Miguel Beermen are as hungry for the win as they could ever be. And now they took the chance to cook some delicious win-the-basket meals against the Sta. Lucia Realtors, which they did. SMB started strong in the ball game and ended even stronger keeping the Realtors from striking distance both defensively and offensively. With Dondon Hontiveros who drove first kill with his second three in this season; Bonbon Custodio whose steals and shots were way beyond explanation; Lordy Tugade who came in surprisingly amazing off the bench; Jonas Villanueva who threw 3points out of nowhere; Ra-Ra Racella who was their stabilizing form through his hustle; and Arwind Santos with an exclamation point, punctuated with some slamdunks in the face of the Realtors.

The Beermen outscored Sta. Lucia during halftime, pushing them too much behind the court. It was almost close to a 30-point lead but Coach Siot is not yet done coaching here. He steadily reminded the boys to execute full court pressure. And the Beermen, just as coach wanted, did enough to hang on and dominated the game, not allowing any offense from the Realtors, making it even harder for them to keep up with the Beermen.

Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez was definitely not satisfied with what his boys were showing and tried suing them to put on their offense, as Kelly Williams had back-to-back slamma-jamma actions pairing Gabby Espinas’ late bloom play, having huge number of points in the last 2 quarters.

But at the end of the game, it was still the Beermen who took the big win. With an 88 to 69 game, the Realtors still find themselves stuck on traffic down below the PBA standings.