San Miguel struggles past NLEX

(MENAFN- Arab News) San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria knows exactly where his Beermen are right now.
'I think our foot is in the top four already' Austria told reporters on Friday night moments after steering his Beermen to a hard-fought 96-92 win over NLEX in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Arizona Reid the former Best Import with another team drilled in nine straight points when the game hung in the balance and helped the Beermen break away from an 86-84 game as San Miguel went on to win for the sixth straight time for 6-2 overall and closer to a twice-to-beat privilege.
'This is a good win for us' Austria said after Reid finished with 30 points23 of them coming in the second half. 'The winning streak is not in our minds it's our targeta top four slotthat we are concerned with.'
'I think we are there already' he said.
The Beermen had to work extra hard to get this one as the Road Warriors fought hardest behind import Kwame Alexander and Michael Madanly.
NLEX which slipped to 2-5 and would need to win all of its remaining four games to have a shot at a top four berth only gave way when Reid hit that cluster as San Miguel streaked to a 95-88 lead going into the final 76 seconds after Reid completed a three-point play off the final foul of Alexander.
'We knew coming in that this would be a very tough game' Austria said. 'We knew that because NLEX came in confident after beating Alaska (earlier in the week).
'But we were very motivated because they embarrassed us in the last conference.'
While Austria and the Beermen were already thinking top four Alaska coach Alex Compton was surprised to be informed that his Aces are already in the playoffs.
The Aces ran Blackwater to the ground earlier in the day scoring a 101-63 victory to rise to 5-2 which is good enough to be in the quarterfinals along with the Beermen and the league-leading Barako Bull Energy.
Compton praised his wards for never losing the appetite to play hard even with huge leads practically the whole game as he and his Aces learned their lessons after losing a big lead against NLEX and bowing.
'I haven't really been thinking about the playoffs' Compton said. 'But getting into the top four remains to be our priority. Everyone wants that twice-to-beat advantage.'
Alaska was able to rest most of its top guns after establishing control early with Vic Manuel shooting 17 and Romeo Travis hitting 14 that went with 10 rebounds.
The loss was the second straight for the Carnival whose bid wasn't helped by the early exit of 7-foot-1 Senegalese import Hamady N'Dyiae in the third quarter after getting accidentally poked in the eye by Calvin Abueva.
Alaska built an 11-point lead after the first 12 minutes and was 21 points ahead after three quarters eventually dealing the Carnival their third loss in six games that put KIA in the bottom half of the standings.
It was the worst loss in the young history of the Carnival in the league.
'In the last six minutes they (Aces) honored the game and continued to play really hard' Compton added. 'I can't ask for anything else.'
Meanwhile a couple of struggling powerhousesTalk 'N Text and Rain or Shinemeet for the first time since that classic seven-game series for the Commissioner's Cup championship in an out-of-town sortie slated in Bacolod on Saturday.
That game is slated at 5 p.m. at the University of St. La Salle Gym and this game carries a lot of weight yet again.
Both need a win badly to remain in the thick of the fight for a top four slot but the Tropang Texters will be coming off a two-game losing streak.