Fiesta Cup champion San Miguel rolls past Sta. Lucia

Arwind Santos poured in 18 points as defending champion San Miguel claimed their seventh straight victory in the PBA Fiesta Cup with a 93-74 rout of the Sta. Lucia Realtors at the Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

Santos also pulled off 15 rebounds while Dondon Hontiveros, Gabe Freeman and Alex Cabagnot added 16, 15 and 13 points each for the Beermen, who bucked the absence of starting center Jay Washington. A swollen left hand kept Washington from practicing with the team Thursday and was unable to suit up against the Realtors. He averaged 24 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 block shots in the team’s last two games. The Beermen raised their record to a league-best 8-1 mark, moving them at least four wins of grabbing an outright semis berth in the season-ending tournament. They also limited the Realtors – the second best defensive team in the league – below 75 points, marking the second straight game they held their opponents below 80. The reigning champions held the No. 1 defensive PBA ballclub, Purefoods, to only 72 points in their come-from-behind win last Sunday. Anthony Johnson had 22 points to pace the Realtors (3-5), whose two-game winning run finally came to an end. The Realtors played catch-up the entire game. They were only behind by seven at the start of the fourth period when the Beermen unleashed a 20-11 run to pull away for good, 85-69, with 2:53 left in the game. Gabby Espinas finished with 14 points along with Kelly Williams, who is rumored to be on the way out of the Realtors with his impending trade to the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters. “I’m not thinking about that at all. I’m a professional and I’m playing my heart out for Sta. Lucia," said the versatile Filipino-American power-forward. Ryan Reyes, a fellow national team stalwart like Williams, was held to just six points, all of which he scored in the first half. – GMANews.TV