THE SAN MIGUEL Beermen secured the top spot heading to the playoffs but not without some drama as they got past the reigning champions Indonesia Warriors, 70-66, in the Asean Basketball League Friday night at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The Beermen led by as many as 17 points as Val Acuna caught fire and scored 15 points off five three-pointers that pushed the team in front, 40-23.
However, the Warriors rallied and came to within one, 66-67, as Cebuano guard Jerick Canada swished a trey for Indonesia.
But veteran Asi Taulava showed nerves of steel by hitting two freethrows with 7.6 seconds left that gave the Beermen a 69-66 lead.
Canada tried and missed a game-tying triple and SMB guard Paolo Hubalde split his free-throws to settle the score.
The win gave San Miguel a 16-3 (win-loss) record at the end of the eliminations, thus gaining homecourt advantage for the playoffs. Indonesia fell to 13-6./Correspondent Jonas Panerio