MANILA - San Miguel Beermen weathered a mini late rally from Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters to reclaim the solo top spot in the PBA Philippine Cup standings after a 99-93 win on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The Beermen showed their class for the most part of the tight contest even as they eventually opened an 11-point lead, 95-84, with 2:20 to play. The Elasto Painters, however, banked on six straight free throws to cut the lead down to five, 95-90, with 1:19 left. They even had a chance to trim it further after Andrei Caracut stole the ball from Simon Enciso, but Rey Nambatac was whistled for a dribbling violation, and the Beermen scored back-to-back layups to ice the game. CJ Perez led SMB, now at 5-1, with 21 points, four rebounds, five assists, and a steal, while Marcio Lassiter and Rodney Brondial added 16 points each. June Mar Fajardo chipped in a double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds plus a career-high seven assists and three blocks. Jewel Po
MANILA - Converge's support cast worked wonders on Wednesday especially in the endgame as they clobbered the Terrafirma Dyip, 97-84, in their PBA Philippine Cup clash at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. Mike Digregorio and Maverick Ahanmisi came alive for Converge in the fourth quarter, combining for 26 of the team's 34 points in the period even as they pulled away from Terrafirma in the last 12 minutes in a tight game that saw 12 deadlocks and 17 lead changes. Digregorio finished with 19 points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal, while Ahanmisi added 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists for the FiberXers. With the win, Converge snapped a two-game skid despite sitting out injured wingmen Jeron Teng and Kevin Racal as well as newly-re-signed Abu Tratter and moved up to 2-3. Joseph Gabayni made 18 markers, seven boards, one dime, two blocks, and one steal for the Dyip, who fell to 0-4. (PNA) }
(Photo courtesy of PNVF) MANILA- Poland came back from two sets down to beat Thailand, 22-25, 27-29, 25-16, 25-16, 15-13, in the first game of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Thursday triple-header at the Smart Araneta Coliseum here. After engaging in a tight battle with Thailand in the first two sets only to fall short, Poland displayed dominance in Sets 3 and 4 to force the deciding set. The fifth set went down the wire again, but Poland displayed poise in the end to complete the reverse sweep against Thailand. Olivia Rozanski led Poland, which tied their victims at 4-2 in the standings, with 20 points on 17 attacks, two blocks, and one ace. Martyna Czyrnianska and Weronika Szlagowska each added 18 points. Chatchu-On Moksri fired 26 points on 20 attacks, five blocks, and one ace to lead Thailand, which owns the tiebreaker over Poland as they have 12 points against their opponents' 10. (PNA) }
MANILA - Rome Dela Rosa scored on a game-winning triple with six seconds left as Magnolia scored its first win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the expense of NorthPort, 80-77, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Through Dela Rosa's heroics, the Hotshots evaded a huge comeback threat from the Batang Pier. Magnolia was ahead by as much as 17, 40-23, late in the second quarter, but NorthPort came alive in the second half and even took the lead before an up-and-down fourth quarter led to a 77-all tie. However, Jio Jalalon found Dela Rosa wide open from the left wing for the dagger with six seconds left. "We want Jio to create for his teammates, and good thing Calvin [Abueva] and also Aris [Dionisio] dived to the basket. And then nag-collapse sila, so si Rome yung nalibre (they collapsed, so Rome became wide open)," Coach Chito Victolero said after the game. Arwind Santos tried to force overtime, but he missed the potential game-tying three as time ran out on th
MANILA - TNT began its quest for back-to-back PBA Philippine Cup titles after tripping Magnolia in an opening night rematch of last year's finals, 78-72, on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. TNT pulled away late in the game to repeat its dominance over Magnolia, whom they beat in five games in the 2021 championship series in Bacolor, Pampanga. The Tropang Giga turned on the jets in crunch time and unleashed a 10-3 run within the last 2:26 of the game to upend the Hotshots. Troy Rosario tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal for TNT, which has yet to agree on a new contract with Mikey Williams, the newly-crowned Rookie of the Year. Williams is still in the United States at the moment even as teammate Kelly Williams received his Rookie of the Year and Mythical First Team awards on his behalf. Jayson Castro added 16 points, two rebounds, and six assists. Ian Sangalang chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jio Jalalon and C