B-Meg battles Alaska in Cagayan de Oro

Game Saturday (Cagayan de Oro City)
5 p.m. - Alaska vs B-Meg Derby Ace
Games Sunday (Araneta Coliseum)
4 p.m. - Sta. Lucia vs Air21
6:30 p.m. - San Miguel vs Ginebra

B-Meg Derby Ace (formerly Purefoods) and Alaska Milk battle each other this Saturday in a rematch of last conference's finalists as the PBA Fiesta Cup visits Cagayan de Oro City for its Phoenix Fuel-presented Road game at the Xavier University gym.

No matter how they will hide it, the Aces could not easily forget the embarrassing setback they suffered in the hands of Llamados where they were beaten four in a row in their best-of-seven title series.

But when they clash in the lone game at 5 p.m., Alaska coach Tim Cone appears to have figured out the way on how to stop B-Meg's juggernaut.

And that's reason why the Aces took the 6-foot-8 Sam Eman.

"The bottom line is they beat us last conference with a tall and quick frontline," Cone said. "But with Sam, we got bigger. I hope it will balance things up."

Cone also mentioned that they're not focused on avenging that Finals defeat, but more on being consistent this conference and getting their confidence back little by little.

"That's not something we're focus on," he said. "Getting back at them is not our focus. It's natural for the players. Maybe that's something at the back of their minds, but what I told them is to stay focused at the moment."

The Aces even dropped their first two game of the tournament until they scored a 105-95 win over Air21 last Wednesday.

B-Meg will continue to miss the services of Kerby Raymundo, who is still recovering from a right knee injury.

Though B-Meg has five other players standing more that 6-foot-5 � Rafi Reavis, Don Allado, Rico Maierhofer, Marc Pingris and Nino Canaleta � Raymundo's absence was strongly felt in the team's 79-76 loss to Coca-Cola also last Wednesday.

Against Alaska, they have to control Alaska's twin towers � Eman and the 6-foot-7 Sam Thoss � from wrecking their defense inside the shaded lane.

"The absence of Kerby was deeply felt in our game against Coke. We lacked another scorer who could have helped us score more," said B-Meg coach Ryan Gregorio, who added that the challenge is for other players to step up.

"With Eman around, it will be a match-up nightmare for us. They're taller and stronger at the paint. We must use our quickness to off-set their height advantage," he added.

In a tune-up game during the break after the all-Filipino Finals, Alaska defeated B-Meg, 107-92, with Aces' import collecting 32 points while the Llamados' Lo Wade finished with 31 points. Both imports are expected to go at each other again in their own rematch.

While focus is on the frontline of two teams, it will also interesting to see the match-up of the backcourt between B-Meg's James Yap, Roger Yap, Paul Artadi, and PJ Simon, against Alaska's Willie Miller, LA Tenorio, and Larry Fonacier.