ALLAN THE MAN

The Philippine Volcanoes, national men’s rugby team. has started its preparations for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia later this month.

For the past month, the Volcanoes have been training three times a day, scouting opponents through video sessions, and following a strict diet to gear up for one of their biggest tournaments this year.

“The players are growing individually and as a team by leaps and bounds,” Volcanoes coach Al Caravelli said. “While we are still very new to international Rugby we are learning every day and continuously improving.”

The 2012-13 NBA season will come down to an ultimate game for all the marbles. LeBron James made sure of that after leading the defending champion Miami Heat to a 103-100 overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game Six of the finals on Tuesday (Wednesday morning Manila time).

Miami survived a hot start from Tim Duncan, who scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half along with 17 rebounds for the Spurs. Kahwi Leonard added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs. Parker had 19 points but struggled shooting just 6-of-23 from the field. Mario Chalmers helped keep the Heat in the game in the first half, finishing with 20 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Game Seven is set on Thursday (Friday morning Manila time) in Miami. WATCH VIA LIVE STREAMING. CLICKHERE

SAN ANTONIO SPURS SCORERS: 

Tim Duncan - 30 pts  / Kawhi Leonard - 22 pts  / Tony Parker - 19 pts / Manu Ginobili - 9 pts  / Boris Diaw - 7 pts / Gary Neal - 5 pts / Tiago Splitter - 5 pts / Danny Green - 3 pts

MIAMI HEAT SCORERS: 

 / LeBron James - 32 pts  / Mario Chalmers - 20 pts  / Dwyane Wade - 14 pts  / Chris Bosh - 10 pts

 / Ray Allen - 9 pts / Shane Battier - 9 pts / Mike Miller - 8 pts  / Chris Andersen - 1 pt

WATCH NBA FINALS: SPURS VS HEAT GAME 6 FULL REPLAY BELOW:

Lebron James, The Miami Heat superstar entered Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs averaging 31.5 points, 10 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 11 elimination games. But entering the fourth quarter Tuesday night, James had missed nine of 12 shots, and the Heat trailed by 10 points.

The Philippines has threatened to pull out of the Southeast Asian Games if the current rules on the selection of sports to be played are not revised, amended or corrected.

Top Filipino sports officials are already up in arms with the way organizers of the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar in December have allegedly tried to influence the overall results.

Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes has until July 12 to decide whom to name in the national team’s 12-man lineup for the FIBA-Asia Championships here on Aug. 1-11. 

The deadline to submit a 24-man roster fell yesterday with Reyes listing Marcus Douthit, Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, L. A. Tenorio, Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier, Gabe Norwood, Gary David, Marc Pingris, JuneMar Fajardo, Jeff Chan, Japeth Aguilar, Beau Belga, Sonny Thoss, Greg Slaughter, Garvo Lanete, Jake Pascual, Ronald Pascual, R. R. Garcia, Matt Ganuelas, Kevin Alas, Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams and Jared Dillinger.

The San Antonio Spurs are just one win away from knocking off the defending champion Miami Heat thanks to a 114-104 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Spurs used a 21-2 second-half run to seize control of the game and the series.

TEAM SCORES PER QUARTER: 

San Antonio Spurs - 1Q - 32 pts, 2Q - 29 pts, 3Q - 26 pts, 4Q - 27 pts 

Miami Heat - 1Q - 19 pts, 2Q - 33 pts, 3Q - 23 pts , 4Q - 29 pts

Tickets to the first NBA preseason game on Philippine soil in October have been selling like pancakes.

Fans have gobbled up tickets for the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets, with Section E featuring the cheapest seats at P550 already sold out some three hours after they began selling on Sunday.