MANILA - Gabe Freeman exploded for 35 points that to lift San Miguel Beer to a 100-88 win over Burger King in Game 3 of their best-of-seven semifinal series n the 2008-09 Motolite-Philippine Basketball Association Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Freeman had 12 of his total output in the final quarter that helped the Beermen quash the rally of the Whoppers and grab a 2-1 lead in their series.

Jonas Villanueva added 15 markers while veteran guard Olsen Racela chipped in 12 off the bench for San Miguel.

Arwind Santos led Burger King with 22 points while JR Quinahan and Egay Billones chipped in 11 and 10 respectively for the team.

"We just made sure that we'll be more aggressive defensively this game because that was lacking in the previous game," said San Miguel head coach Siot Tanquingcen.

"We minimized their percentage in the first half and that's a good indication that we played good defense," he added.

By limiting the Whoppers to just 28 percent (12-of-42) in the first half, the Beermen led by as much as 22 points before settling for a 55-35 advantage going to the break.

But Burger King, who tied the series with a 116-113 win in Game 2, slowly sliced the lead to just 11 after the third period behind the effort of Shawn Daniels and Santos, 63-74.

Quinahan and Aaron Aban joined the scoring spree for the Whoppers and engineered a 14-8 run to threaten at 77-82 with 5:28 left in the game.

Mick Pennisi doused cold water on that run as he hit a back-breaking three-pointer that started a swift 6-0 run to put the lead back to 88-77 with 3:31 remaining.

Santos turned the ball twice and Daniels missed four straight free throws that allowed the Beermen to have some breathing room.

Burger King last threatened at 83-89 on Wynnie Arboleda's three-pointer but Freeman score the next six points and Dondon Hontiveros added one technical free throw off Whoppers coach Yeng Guiao to seal the win for San Miguel, 95-83, under a minute left.

As expected, the game got physical early with Wesley Gonzales and Mark Yee almost came into blows before separated by their teammates. Yee hit the driving Gonzalez on the forehead that resulted a nasty gash.

"It's normal. The stakes are getting higher and everybody's playing harder," said Tanquingcen. "Okey lang hard foul but anything beyond basketball is uncalled for."

Guiao missed the services of Erick Rodriguez as he was penalized by the league last night for his flagrant foul on Freeman in Game 2.

Rain or Shine also take 2-1 lead

In the second game, Rain or Shine bounced back from a heart-breaking loss in the previous game and book a 94-88 win in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in their own semifinal series.

Gabe Norwood fired a game-high 17 points to lead the team's balanced attack to go along with his 12 rebounds. Jai Lewis and Eddie Laure each had 16 markers while TY Tang contributed 15 for coach Caloy Garcia.

"Basically, we just shot better than Ginebra today," said Garcia, who lost another play in Jireh ibanes who skipped the game due to fever.

"We're a young team and it shows that we have the heart to play in this level," he added.

Jayjay Helterbran led the Kings with 17 points while Cyrus Baguio and David Noel each had 16 markers for coach Jong Uichico.