Wilkerson erupts for 46 as San Miguel nips Star for semis spot

MANILA, Phlippines – Tyler Wilkerson may or may not have found out about the comment coach Leo Austria said about him, but either way, the import came to play Wednesday night, April 20.

After an inefficient performance in the first game, Wilkerson erupted for 46 points and 17 rebounds in the deciding quarterfinals match as the San Miguel Beermen squeaked past the Star Hotshots, 103-99, to move on to the semifinals of the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Wilkerson, who missed all 8 of his attempts from deep in a 108-99 loss to Star, was almost 52% from the field in this knockout game and missed only two of his 15 free throw attempts. He also had a steal and two blocks.

Austria, who commented on Wilkerson’s performance after the first game saying, “mukhang wala siyang pinakita e (he didn’t play well),” sang a different tune as his Beermen kept alive their quest for a 3-peat. 

“I’m happy today because Chris Ross and Tyler (Wilkerson), they really went all out,” Austria praised his wards.

“I think it’s very obvious that the players refused to lose. Maybe because of the experience we had in the past 4 conferences, especially in the last All-Filipino.”

Chris Ross took over inside the final two minutes, scoring San Miguel’s last 4 game-winning points with a go-ahead jumper, 99-97, and a pair of charities for the 103-99 cushion and the final tally with 58.6 ticks to go.

Star then failed to run a play coming off a timeout after Mark Barroca sent the rock bouncing out of bounds in a miscalculated pass down low to import Ricardo Ratliffe.

Ross tallied 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals off the bench. Marcio Lassiter did not score in the final quarter but still had 17 points with 5 assists, while Arwind Santos had 10 markers, 7 boards, two assists, and 4 rejections.

Ratliffe led the now-eliminated 8th seed Hotshots with 24 points and 16 rebounds as PJ Simon went cold in the final frame to end up with 21 markers. Marc Pingris had 18 points and 18 rebounds while Alex Mallari chipped in 10 markers.

Star drowned out “I believe that we will win!” cheers from San Miguel fans as they led by 93-84 in the early goings of the fourth. But a free throw by Wilkerson off a technical on the Hotshots’ bench sparked the Beermen’s rally and a Santos steal and putback tied the count at 97.

The Beermen will face the Painters for the third straight conference in a best-of-5 semifinals series beginning Sunday, April 24, at 5 pm. San Miguel is 7-3 against Rain or Shine in their last two final four meetings. – Rappler.com