Petron slips past B-Meg

James Yap of B-Meg gets away from Denok Miranda of Petron Blaze. PHOTO BY AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Petron Blaze remained in the title hunt of the PBA Governors’ Cup after putting it all together in the stretch against B-Meg for a 97-92 victory Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Apart from hounding MVP James Yap all night, Sunday Salvacion knocked down the go-ahead triple with 74 seconds left as the Boosters kept their flickering hopes alive of forging a title series duel with Grand Slam-seeking Talk ‘N Text.

Alaska notched its eighth victory in 13 games after a 95-89 decision of Rain or Shine that eliminated the Elasto Painters from the championship race.

While the Aces moved up to solo second, they still need to hope for a couple of things to happen on Friday—losses by Barangay Ginebra and Petron to different foes—for them to make the championship series.

Arwind Santos was also big on both ends, blocking a layup by Yap to pave the way for two Danny Ildefonso free throws for a 94-90 Petron lead with 57.1 ticks left.

Petron coach Ato Agustin heaved a huge sigh of relief after the victory against a side that had absolutely nothing to gain.

“I really couldn’t explain it,” Agustin said in Filipino. “At the start, it looked like B-Meg didn’t want the win. But the problem was, we took it easy and almost paid for it.”

Petron rose to 7-5 overall despite missing Alex Cabagnot, Joseph Yeo and later on Rabeh Al-Hussaini in the first quarter.

But for the Boosters to make it to the best-of-seven series, they have to defeat the Tropang Texters on Friday.

The Llamados were surprisingly tough for most of the night until they failed to score when needed in the stretch.

The scores:
PETRON BLAZE 97—Grundy 29, Santos 22, Salvacion 14, Ildefonso 14, Miranda 12, Al-Hussaini 4, Baclao 2, Duncil 0, Hubalde 0, Pennisi 0.
B-MEG 92—Yap J. 23, Devance 18, Pingris 16, Allen 15, Urbiztondo 10, Allado 8, Reavis 2, Gaco 0, Fernandez 0, Adducul 0.
Quarters: 23-15, 46-41, 65-66, 97-92

Second Game

ALASKA 95—Forte 24, Tenorio 20, Dela Cruz 13, Reyes 12, Custodio 10, Thoss 10, Borboran 3, Cablay 3, Eman 0, Baguio 0, Dimaunahan 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 89—Reid 25, Tang 13, Chan 12, Buenafe 10, Rodriguez 9, Norwood 8, Belga 6, Ibanes 4, Vanlandingham 2, Jazul 0, Cruz 0.
Quarters: 25-18, 48-40, 64-63, 95-89