Freeman hands San Miguel outright semis berth

MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel needed Gabe Freeman’s heroics down the stretch to escape Barako Bull’s upset bid Friday night, 99-92, and formally clinch an outright semis berth in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup. Freeman scored five straight points in a short but telling Beermen run in the final three minutes that allowed them to break free from a pesky Barako Bull side which kept the game at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City close until that point. The Beermen were holding on a shaky 90-89 lead when Freeman went on his scoring rampage. The high-flying import finished with 33 points and 19 rebounds. His looping follow up off a Danny Ildefonso miss, with 70 seconds left, sealed San Miguel’s 10th win in 12 outings, 95-89. “Our offense got going, but our defense started slow," said Freeman in the post game interview. “But once our defense worked out, that sealed the deal." Dondon Hontiveros added 23 points for the league leader as he went 10-of-16 from the floor. The Beermen still have two games left against the Sta. Lucia Realtors and Coca-Cola Tigers. Daryan Selvi topscored for Barako Bull with 32 points and 13 rebounds while Jojo Duncil finished with a conference-high 18 markers. From an 80-80 count, the Beermen appeared ready to pull away behind a 10-4 run to grab a 90-84 lead midway in the final quarter. But the Energy Boosters won’t just easily go away, clustering five straight points to threaten for the last time at 90-89. Barako Bull ended its campaign in the eliminations at 2-12 and will go into the wild card playoff as the 10th seeded team. – GMANews.TV