By Reuel Vidal

SAN Miguel Beer, the league’s hottest team other than Barangay Ginebra, guns for its third straight victory when it meets the Alaska Aces in the opening 4:35 p.m. game of the Talk N Text Philippine Basketball Association at the Cuneta Astrodome today.

The red-hot Beermen mauled Sta. Lucia, 78-61, in Tacloban last April 21 and dumped Welcoat, 96-90, at the Araneta Coliseum last April 15. Their last loss was inflicted by the very same Alaska Aces, 94-84, last April 11.

“Every possession is important,” said San Miguel Beer coach Siot Tanquincen. “We can’t afford to waste our chances. We need to play smart against them [Alaska]. We also have to compete against their big men on the boards.”

A victory will lift Alaska (7-3) to a tie at second place with Red Bull (8-3) behind league-leader Ginebra (8-2). A victory for San Miguel (3-7) will lift the Beermen to a tie with Purefoods (4-7) at seventh place behind Air21 (7-3), Talk N Text (5-5) and Coca-Cola.

In the main game, the Talk N Text Phone Pals try to put some distance between themselves and the Coca-Cola Tigers when they meet at 7:20 p.m.

“The Tigers are a totally different team from the one we beat [102-87 on March 14],” said Talk N Text coach Derick Pumaren. “They added depth in all positions with the addition of Alex Cabagnot, Kenneth Duremdes and Ricky Calimag and they added ceiling with their new import Jeff Varem.”