On their own, Llamados nip Energy; TNT escapes Alaska
MANILA, Philippines—Put to a test of character by its own coach, B-Meg last night survived Barako Bull, 91-90, for a seventh straight win that put the Llamados in the hunt for a top two slot in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie Mark Barocca hit a twisting layup with 4.9 seconds left for the marginal basket and the Llamados watched with bated breath as Willie Miller barely missed the potential game-winning triple at the buzzer before rising to 9-4.
It looked like disposing of the Energy would be a breeze for the Llamados, who had a 16-point fourth quarter lead, the last at 78-62 with nine minutes left, only for Barako Bull to steadily chop that off and even take the lead at 90-89 after a Miller jumper with 13.7 seconds left.
“I wanted the guys to work their way through it,” multititled coach Tim Cone said. “I could have called a couple of timeouts (when Barako Bull was making a run) and I left it in their hands and they did it.”
B-Meg tied idle Petron Blaze at 9-4 and is a cinch to close out its elimination round schedule with a 10-4 slate as the Llamados clash with out-of-it-all Shopinas.com later in the week.
Petron and the Tropang Texters will still mix it up at the end of the elimination round and this is what gives Cone the optimism that his wards will have a shot at nailing a twice-to-beat privilege.
“It’s either Petron ends up with five losses or Talk ‘N Text ends up with four,” Cone said.
Rain or Shine, meanwhile, looks primed to stop a four-game losing streak today when the Elasto Painters battle winless Shopinas.com in the 4:15 p.m. contest.
Barangay Ginebra and Meralco, squads coming off victories on Friday, clash in the 6:30 p.m. game with the Gin Kings not only looking to improve on their playoff ranking but also seeking to notch the 800th win in franchise history.
Only San Miguel/Petron has more victories than the Kings with 1,095.
In the other game, Talk N’ Text withstood a tough Alaska in a 100-97 victory.
Jimmy Alapag had 21 points, Kelly Williams had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Texters, who weathered off a late rally by the Aces behind ace guard L.A. Tenorio.
Tenorio, who finished with a game-high 25 points, nailed two freethrows in the final minute to cut Talk N’ Text’s lead. With reports from Celest R. Flores
The scores:
First game
B-MEG 91—Barroca 18, Yap J. 15, Simon 13, De Vance 12, Raymundo 12, Reavis 7, Urbiztondo 6, De Ocampo 6, Yap R. 2, Pingris 0.
BARAKO BULL 90—Miller 25, Seigle 22, Pena 11, Ababou 10, Najorda 8, Pennisi 7, Gatumbato 3, Allado 2, Arboleda 2, Artadi 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarters: 18-18, 45-33, 72-59, 91-90
Second game
TALK N’ TEXT 100 – Alapag 21, Williams 20, Carey 18, Fonacier 16, Aguilar 10, Gamalinda 7, Castro 7, Alvarez 1, Raymundo 0, Weinstein 0, Lao 0.
ALASKA 97 – Tenorio 25, Baguio 22, Baracael 15, Reyes 12, Salamat 9, Thoss 8, Eman 4, Custodio 2, Bugia 0.
Quarters: 27-22, 49-42, 75-57, 100-97
