Eyes on the prize

We’re here not just to compete but to win as well

LESTER Prosper (middle) and San Miguel Beer keep their focus heading into a crucial match with Ryukyu Golden Kings.

MACAU — San Miguel Beer shoots for a semifinal slot and the shot to take home the $150,000 grand prize of the East Asia Super League (EASL) Terrific 12 Invitational Tournament.

With the loss of Blackwater and TNT KaTropa in the opening day of the tournament on Tuesday, the Beermen are the lone Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) squad that has a strong chance of making it to the Final Four.

But the grand slam-seeking San Miguel needs to dethrone the reigning champion Ryukyu Golden Kings of Japan in order to advance in this tough 12-club tournament.

The Beermen and the Golden Kings face off at 7 p.m. today here at the Tap Seac-Multi-Sport Pavilion expected to be filled by overseas Filipino workers.

San Miguel got a big scare from Shenzen Aviators last Tuesday before holding on for a 90-76 in Group B in a game where coach Leo Austria utilized just seven players including imports Lester Prosper and Denz Wells.

“I knew we have a strong chance to pull this one the reason why I used just seven players,” said Austria, who drew 29 points from Wells, the team’s reinforcement for the season-ending Governors’ Cup.

“We’re here not just to compete but to win as well. And we hope to continue that in our next game to make it to the semis,” he added.

Prosper was the Beermen’s source of strength inside the paint against the Aviators as he finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds while the backcourt tandem of Terrence Romeo and Chris Ross was also huge, combing for 28 points, 13 assists and eight steals.

Arwind Santos and Filipino-German banger Christian Standhardinger also gave Austria a big lift at the frontcourt with the latter adding 11 points while the former had nine points, six rebounds and four blocks.

They are up against the defending champions Golden Kings, who took a bye on Tuesday and were playing the Aviators yesterday as of press time.

A win by Ryukyu over Shenzen sets up a do-or-die match between the Beermen and the Golden Kings for the right for the lone semifinal slot.

Ryukyu will be bannered by reigning Most Valuable Player Ryuichi Kishimoto, who fired six triples for a 21-point output in the Golden Kings’ 85-76 win over China’s Guangzhou Long Lions in last year’s final showdown.

Former NBA player Jack Cooley and Demon Brooks will power the squad handled by Norio Sassa.

Cooley had stints with the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings while Brooks campaigned for Davidson, the same school that produced NBA star Stephen Curry, in the Division I of the US NCAA.

Meanwhile, the KaTropa try to salvage what is left in their chance to make it to the next round as they square off with another Japanese club in Niigata Albirex, which was playing Liaoning Flying Leopards as of press time, at 5 p.m.

TNT suffered a heart-breaking 91-96 loss to the Flying Leopards Tuesday night in Group D behind Lance Stephenson’s explosive performance of 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

The team of head coach Mark Dickel can still make it to the next stage if the Albirex beat Lioning and the KaTropa scores a victory over the Japanese club today by a big margin. The PBA club can advance to the next stage via a quotient system.

But for Dickel, the Terrific 12 serves a perfect environment to prepare them in the coming season of the PBA where he’s still be backstopped by ex-NBA stalwart KC McDaniels.

“It’s great for us to ply against team with size. It’s something we don’t really experience unless we play Ginebra or San Miguel in the Philippines. Any opponent like this is great for us,” said Dickel, who drew a combined 73 points from McDaniels and McKenzie Moore.

“We’re not the biggest team in the PBA so we have to find a way to compete against them and more games like these will definitely help us.”

The Elite were playing Japan’s Chiba Jets as of press time and their chances to move forward are bleak after suffering a 77-93 loss to Korea’s Seoul SK Knights last Tuesday.