Louie Sangalang of Terrafirma (right) and Clifford Jopia dispute possession. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ

San Miguel Beer and Meralco came off contrasting fortunes in games far from the metropolis on Saturday as the Beermen boosted their twice-to-beat drive in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs while the Bolts grappled for cohesion in the Basketball Champions League Asia in faraway Dubai.

A 120-111 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Cagayan de Oro had the Beermen rising to 7-2 and to within another win of a guaranteed top four finish, while the Bolts are playing their second game, which was against B.League champion Utsunomiya Brex at press time, in survival mode.

Representing the PBA, the Bolts were handed a 101-87 defeat by Shabab Al-Ahli of host country United Arab Emirates as active consultant Nenad Vucinic, who is designated to call the shots for the Asian club tournament known for many years as the ABC or Fiba Asia Champions Cup, lamented the difficulty meshing with its three imports.

“It’s difficult for us to get some cohesion because we just joined with our three new players,” Vucinic said, referring to reinforcements Jordan Varnado, Glynn Watson and John Egbunu.

Meralco tapped them in order to maximize on tournament rules that allow each qualified team to have three imports, though only two are allowed to play at the same time.

The scenery, effectively, didn’t change for the Bolts as they are already out of twice-to-beat contention with a 6-5 PH Cup elimination round record.

And when they come back, they will be tasked to beat a higher-ranked foe two straight times to make the semifinals, playing, interestingly enough, a crew that will not have imports.

Meanwhile, Blackwater spoiled the apparent final game of Terrafirma in the PBA by taking a 97-82 win in a matchup of also-ran sides at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Richard Escoto dropped 15 of his 21 points in the second quarter while Christian David, arguably the team’s best player, had 19 as the Bossing snapped their six-game skid to go 2-8.

Blackwater prevented Terrafirma from finishing the conference on a winning note before pondering on what’s next for the franchise with regards to a potential sale to the owners of the Zamboanga Valientes. INQ