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| James Yap Thanks to PBA.ph for the photo |
BMEG BEATS ALASKA
Coach Tim Cone earned his first win outside the Alaska Milk organization at the expense of Alaska
Milk itself.
Cone prevailed over his former team in their first meeting after their parting with the B-Meg
Llamados coming from behind to beat the Aces, 81-75, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta
Coliseum Wednesday night.
“Nag-usap kaming mga players. Alam namin na gustong-gustong nilang talunin si coach Tim. Ayaw
namin mapahiya ang coach namin,” said B-Meg top gun James Yap.
The whole B-Meg organization and the Llamados’ fans rallied behind Cone, showing up wearing
necktie to best demonstrate their support to their new coach.
Cone tried hard to take it just as another game but admitted feeling tremendous pressure.
“I felt it and I didn’t want to put that on the players,” said Cone, approaching the Alaska
bench to hug coach Joel Banal and team manager Joaqui Trillo before the game.
After the game, Cone again approached his former team then finally let out a big sigh in what he
called “a tough day.”
Yap, Josh Urbiztondo and Kerby Raymundo had a big part making Cone’s day.
Yap led all scorers with 20 points while Urbiztondo and Raymundo delivered at crunch time.
“What I like the most about this team is that they’re veterans. They don’t panic. They’re
calm and collected,” said Cone of the Llamados who scored their first win in the season after
losing their first game versus the Petron Blaze Boosters, 69-73.
The Aces, meanwhile, reeled to a second straight loss.
The Llamados fought back from an early 15-point deficit and beat out the Aces at endgame on crucial
baskets by Urbiztondo and Raymundo.
Urbiztondo banged away three straight treys that opened up a 75-68 lead for the Llamados entering
the last three minutes of play.
Then the Aces were waging an endgame upheaval when Raymundo drove off Sonny Thoss for a key twinner
making it 79-75 for B-Meg with time down to 20 seconds.
The Aces eventually yielded the game with LA Tenorio misfiring a three-point attempt in the ensuing
play.
Alaska came out with its guns ablaze, taking the first quarter at 21-9 then having its 15-point
spread at 24-9.
B-Meg came alive in the second quarter with Yap firing 10 points and team rallying to within to,
35-37, at the half. (SB)
The scores:
B-Meg 81 – Yap J. 20, Urbiztondo 12, Raymundo 12, Simon 11, De vance 10, Reavis 8, Pingris 6,
Ferriols 2, Barroca 0, Acuna 0, Maierhofer 0, Yap R. 0.
Alaska 75 – Thoss 18, Reyes 15, Tenorio 11, Baguio 10, Dela Cruz 9, Baracael 4, Custodio 4, Eman
3, Bugia 1, Cablay 0.
Quarterscores: 9-21, 35-37, 61-56, 81-75
MERALCO WINS AGAINST SHOPINAS.COM
Source : PBA Official Website
MERALCO’s prized players were hardly missed Wednesday, not when there were still some able bodies
to fill up the gaps.
None bigger than Asi Taulava, who scored a crucial fallaway jumper to point the undermanned Bolts to
a 79-72 victory over the Shopinas.com Clickers 79-72 for their breakthrough win in the PBA
Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gabby Espinas, Mark Macapagal and Mark Isip each scored at least 11 points, but it was Taulava’s
shotclock-beating fallaway that solidified the Bolts’ triumph following an 80-98 loss to Talk ‘N
Text in their conference debut game last Friday.
Paolo Hubalde scored a career-high 21 points but Shopinas still dropped its second straight game
after failing to pounce on the opportunity presented by the absences of injured Meralco players Mark
Cardona, Sol Mercado, Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Ross.
“It was a great challenge for our players who were inserted to our team to play a role but,
because of the turn of events, they were entrusted to be superstars,” noted Gregorio, adding
defense was also a huge factor in the win.
“We got our defensive legs ready and we limited them to 72 while scoring just enough to win,” he
stated.
It is also undeniable that the 38-year-old Taulava’s shot came at the most opportune time.
“Asi bailed us out,” stressed Gregorio. “It was good timing Asi got the ball in the post”
Taulava, who wound up with a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points, said he was simply
trying to do his share and did by making it a 77-72 count going into the last 25 seconds of play.
“Coach was telling us during the timeout, ‘Big players come out to play, so you either step up
or watch the game.’ I felt I had to do something. The shotclock was winding down and I had the
ball in my hands,” said the man who joined the league in 1999 and earned its highest individual
honor in 2003.
The basket visibly took the win out of Shopinas’ sail as James Sena lost the ball in the ensuing
play and Macapagal capped a 14-point night with two charities that made it a 79-72 count that stood
when Mark Borboran blocked a Ren-Ren Ritualo triple try before the final buzzer.
It also gave the ending a veritable runaway twist that seemed hardly likely after the Clickers came
charging back from a 57-69 deficit and threatened within 72-75, still 66 ticks left.
Espinas scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the third period that saw Meralco erect four
nine-point leads, only to go into the fourth period with just a 58-52 spread.
Hubalde and Khazim Mirza were the main reasons why Shopinas kept within the coattails of Meralco by
scoring six points each in the third period.
Espinas and Isip took turns taking the lead for Meralco, enabling the Bolts to fend off Shopinas’
repeated surges and take a 32-31 lead at the half.
The two frontliners each had eight points at the half as the Bolts shook off a sluggish start to go
up by as much as 30-22, 3:14 to go in the second period.
Doing most of his damage around the rim, Isip went 4-of-6 from the field and Espinas 2-of-2 as
Meralco made 10 of 21 tries to Shopinas’ 8-of-23 shooting.
That didn’t stop the Clickers from continuing their scrappy plays, resulting in two steals they
translated into four of their six points that trimmed the deficit at the turn.
Meralco actually started cold, committing 11 turnovers in the opening quarter and making just four
of 15 field goal tries.
Shopinas fared just only a bit better from the field (5-of-25) for an 11-9 lead that stands as the
league’s lowest combined score for any quarter in the last four conferences. (NC)
The scores:
MERALCO 79 - Espinas 16, Macapagal 14, Isip 11, Yee 10, Lanete 8, Taulava 7, Borboran 6, Timberlake
5, Omolon 2, Ballesteros 0.
SHOPINAS.COM 72 - Hubalde 21, Menor 9, Sena 7, Duncil 7, Ritualo 7, Mirza 6, Se 6, Hermida 4, Sison
2, Jazul 2, Canlas 1, Espiritu 0.
Quarterscores: 9-11, 32-31, 58-52, 79-72
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