Aces, Beermen faceoff in Dumaguete Saturday

PHILIPPINE Basketball Association's Alaska Aces and San Miguel Beermen will play in an equally important match Saturday afternoon at the Lamberto Macias Sports and Cultural Center.

Alaska team first arrived in Dumaguete City Thursday morning, according to a top official of the Negros Oriental Sports and Cultural Facilities Board of Management (NOSCFBM), local organizer of the PBA games.

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NOSCFBM manager Mariz Ramirez told Sun.Star that Alaska Aces met their local fans in two malls in the city: Lee Super Plaza and Robinson's Place. San Miguel Beermen also arrived in Dumaguete City Friday morning.

The Beermen will seek a playoff crack at an outright semis berth, while the Aces are out to muddle up the race among SMB, Alaska and B-MEG Derby Ace.

San Miguel and Derby Ace are tied at 12-5, while the Alaska Milk at 11-6 win-loss record.

Meanwhile, Alaska's key players, Cyrus Baguio and LA Tenorio have been playing together for only a relatively short period of time hooking up in leading the Aces closer to a cherished goal in the playoffs of the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference.

Baguio and Tenorio were recently awarded as Accel-PBA Corps co-players of the week from June 14 to 20.

Coach Tim Cone of Aces, on the other hand, will have his back of Sonny Toss, Reynel Hugnatan and Alaska's Cyrus Baguio, acquired for Willie Miller last April 10, who consistently put up solid numbers in the week that was to carry Alaska to back-to-back wins.

The Beermen are expecting big numbers from Cebuano hotshot Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, and import Gabriel Freeman.