The San Miguel Beermen suffered a major collapse against the Meralco Bolts, 104-101, to put their Grand Slam bid in serious jeopardy as the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup elimination round concluded on Sunday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen, who led by as many as 18 points, allowed the Bolts to make a huge fourth quarter comeback to snatch the No.1 seed and the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
To add insult to injury, the Beermen, who would have taken the No.1 spot had they won, slid all the way to sixth place to set up a daunting quarterfinal match against defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel which enjoys a twice-to-beat.
Their No.3 versus No.6 quarterfinal matchup will be played on Wednesday.
San Miguel, which won this year’s Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup, is aiming to become the sixth team in PBA history to sweep all of this season’s conference titles.
The Beermen-Bolts game finalized the quarterfinal pairings, with TNT and Star also clinching twice-to-beat tickets.
No.1 Meralco tangle with No.8 Blackwater Elite, while No.4 Star clash with No.5 NLEX Road Warriors on Tuesday. The Hotshots defeated the Road Warriors, 101-93, in the curtain-raiser on Sunday, making their face-off a virtual best-of-three affair.
No.2 TNT also battle No.7 Rain or Shine on Wednesday.
