B-Meg blasts Ginebra, grabs second spot
Much of the talk in this import-flavored conference has centered on Talk 'N Text, Petron Blaze and Barangay Ginebra. Last night, the B-Meg Llamados reminded everyone that they're very much in the hunt for the top two spots in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Playing what Coach Tim Cone called their best game of the conference, the Llamados went to their guards in the fourth period as they pulled away down the stretch to blast Barangay Ginebra, 109-93, and gain possession of solo second place.
Mark Barroca and PJ Simon scored 18 points each and teamed with import Denzel Bowles to help B-Meg break away from a tight game. With the score knotted at 85, Simon sank two free throws and hit a basket to give the Llamados a four-point lead. After Rudy Hatfield scored for the Kings, Bowles scored seven points and Simon stole the ball for a fastbreak layup in a 9-2 run that pushed B-Meg in front by nine, 98-89 with only 3:02 remaining.
With Ginebra's offense in disarray, James Yap, who added 15 points, sank a triple and Barroca buried a baseline jumper to seal the outcome at 103-89 with only 1:30 left, much to the disappointment of the predominantly Ginebra crowd of over 16,000 that packed the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The win was the Llamados' fourth in six games, putting them just half a game behind TNT (4-1) and a full game ahead of their victims (3-3), who fell into a tie with Petron and Alaska.
"We clicked on all cylinders and that's the way to beat Ginebra," Cone said. "We had a good shooting night, making a lot of big shots out there. They tried to disrupt us and I thought our guards did a good job battling the pressure."
Cone also singled out Bowles, who hasn't garnered as much attention as the other more prominent imports but has quietly gotten the job done for his team.
"Denzel played well three ways: defense, offense and getting the rebounds," Cone said. "That's what we're looking for from him. He's a young guy progressing."
Bowles finished the night with 27 points and 15 rebounds, more than offsetting Ginebra counterpart Jackson Vroman's 26 and 8.
The Kings started out strong, leading 20-11 as Jay-jay Helterbrand couldn't miss from the outside, hitting his first three triples. Ginebra still led 30-24 early in the second period when Barroca and Joe Devance teamed up in a 12-2 B-Meg run that gave the Llamados their first lead of the game.
The momentum swung back and forth for the rest of the half and throughout the third, B-Meg leading by as many as nine points several times and Ginebra gradually chipping away at the lead. The King regained the upper hand with 8:46 left in the game after Hatfield and Vroman both scored to make it 82-81.
Simon and Vroman traded baskets, Yap scored, and Vroman split his free throws — he would miss eight in all — to knot the score at 85 and set up B-Meg's big wind-up.
The Kings have now lost two in a row and are 1-2 since they decided to replace Chris Alexander with Vroman. At 3-3, Ginebra must win at least two if its last three games to safely move into the next round. But it doesn't get any easier for the crowd favorites. They face defending champion Talk 'N Text on March 18, Barako Bull on March 25, before winding up their elimination round campaign against the suddenly dangerous Air21 Express in March 27.
B-Meg, meanwhile, still has to play Alaska, Powerade and Rain or Shine, and judging from the tight standings, most likely has to sweep all three games to secure one of the two automatic semifinal seats.
Before the game, the league honored former Purefoods cager Eugene Tejada, who suffered a career-ending spinal injury in May 2006 after falling down hard and getting pinned by Red Bull's Mick Pennisi. After years of rehabilitation, Tejada can now walk with the help of a walking aid. The crowd and both teams greeted him with rousing applause.
E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @Sid_Ventura
