Beermen close in on elims sweep

AFTER putting a lock at the No. 1 seeding, San Miguel Beer now sets its sight at completing a sweep of its elimination round assignment starting with Blackwater today, May 1, as the PBA Philippine Cup nears the homestretch at the PhilSports Arena.

The Beermen improved to a tournament-best 9-0 on Sunday following their 120-103 spanking of the NLEX Road Warriors.

SMB will be gunning for its 10th straight win when it faces skidding Blackwater at 4:30 p.m.

TNT, which is currently tied for third to fifth spots with Magnolia and NLEX, tangles with also-ran Converge in their 7:30 p.m. match.

Beermen coach Jorge Gallent reiterated their intention to keep their focus on the game at hand in order not to put an unwanted pressure of trying to sweep the elims.

In fact, while the Bossing have lost their last six games since opening the conference with three straight wins, Gallent is expecting Blackwater to show up with fire on its belly just like what the team did last Saturday.

“That game (against NorthPort), they had to win to make the playoffs. It was a big game for them, they played 100 percent but they just came out short,” Gallent said, referring to Blackwater’s 115-113 loss.

After Blackwater, SMB takes a break for a few days before closing its elimination round assignment against Meralco on Saturday in Batangas City.

At 3-6, the Bossing are now in a must-win situation as they hope to keep their flickering playoff bid alive.

As for TNT, staying within the top 6 is doable, provided the Tropang Giga take care of business in their last two assignments in the elims.

The Tropang Giga are coming off a 108-101 win in a game that saw them come back from a 25-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Fuel Masters.