B-Meg threw a defensive blanket on Barangay Ginebra in the first half before going on an attack mode en route to gaining an outright playoff shot at a finals entry in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
The Llamados fashioned out a crucial 82-70 victory that assured the team of a tie for second spot at the close of the carryover semifinal phase Wednesday in the same venue.
While B-Meg goes for an outright finals passage versus Rain or Shine, Ginebra tries to avail itself of the playoff incentive of the “4-of-5” rule in playing Talk n Text in the last play date of the semis.
Ginebra slid down to third place behind Rain or Shine (9-3) and B-Meg (9-4) with an 8-5 card.
“The biggest key was we came out with a defensive mindset,” said coach Tim Cone as his troops bounced back strong from their sorry loss to the Meralco Bolts the last time out.
“We came in with a renewed commitment to play defense and we made a statement right in the first quarter,” added Cone.
Giving away at least 30 points in each of the first quarter of their last two games, the Llamados
indeed exerted a tough defensive effort, holding the Kings down to 16 in the opening period and nine in the next.
“We limited their output (in the first half) and that gave us a good feeling. It carried through to the end,” said Cone.
The multi-titled American coach made special mention of the job put up by PJ Simon on Mark Caguioa.
Averaging 21.3 points in the conference, Caguioa bled for only three markers in this game.
After taking the half at 32-25, the Llamados went on the attack, leading by as many as 17 at 74-57 before sealing the decisive win. Marc Pingris worked hard on both ends, coming through with a personal three-season best of 24 points
that went with 13 rebounds and four assists against two turnovers.
Marcus Blakely and Rafi Reavis had their own double-double numbers as the Llamados hardly felt James
Yap’s flat performance.
Yap went scoreless in the first half and made his first field-goal basket with already eight minutes into the third quarter.
Still, the two-time MVP awardee finished with a double-figure output, converting a triple, a pair of twinners and four charities for 11 markers.
Cedric Bozeman led the losing team with 22 points and 13 rebounds with Jayjay Helterbrand adding 16 points and Kerby Raymundo contributing 14. (SB) The scores:
B-MEG 82 - Pingris 24, Blakely 17, Yap 11, Reavis 11, Urbiztondo 9, Simon 4, De Ocampo 4, Villanueva 2, Barroca 0.
GINEBRA 70 - Bozeman 22, Helterbrand 16, Raymundo 14, Mamaril 4, Cortez 4, Caguioa 3, Maierhofer 2, W. Wilson 2, Hatfield 2, Villanueva 1, Maliksi 0, Abab
ou 0, Canaleta 0, Menk 0.
source: http://www.pba.ph
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