BMEG seeks Twice to Beat - PBA

Mark Barroca

MANILA, Philippines - B-Meg tries to clinch a quarterfinals twice-to-beat edge while Barangay Ginebra seeks to secure spot in the Top Six as they take on separate opponents in the penultimate playdate of the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

The Llamados tangle with the winless Shopinas.com Clickers at 5:15 p.m. while the Kings tackle the Barako Bull Energy at 7:30 p.m.

But Shopinas and Barako are both expected to come out strong and foil their fancied rivals bids with the Clickers hoping to avoid a shutout and the Energy still hoping to bump off the Kings for sixth seeding in the playoffs.

Having lost its first 13 games, Shopinas has matched Great Taste’s dubious record of worst start by any team in a conference in PBA history.

The Clickers are determined to avoid setting a new record in futility.

“Obviously, it’s a big opportunity for us to get that top two seed, but we also know that Shopinas has its own motivation as well. We have to make sure that we don’t feel anything is automatic, and we go out and earn the win,” said B-Meg coach Tim Cone.

A win by B-Meg will even put the Llamados, at 10-4, in contention for the top seeding. They get that in case Barangay Ginebra tops Talk n Text at the close of the elims Sunday.

A win tonight, however, is enough for B-Meg to gain twice-to-beat incentive in the quarters. Talk n Text has achieved that in upending Petron Blaze, 80-78, in a classic game Wednesday.

At 7-5, Ginebra can now only hope for a spot in the Top Six to avoid a quarters match-up with a twice-to-beat advantage.

The Kings automatically achieve that aspiration with a win over the Energy tonight.

Ginebra bungles its bid if it loses its last two games versus Barako tonight and against Talk n Text Sunday.

The third seed goes up against the sixth seed and the fourth seed plays the fifth seed in a pair of best-of-three quarterfinals series.