A HEAVY-SET American woman, easily over 6-feet tall, kept hoisting a huge cut-out photo of her son from the patron’s section all game long.
And for that duration on the floor, Denzel Bowles did not disappoint—standing head-and-shoulders above everyone—in leading B-Meg to a 108-84 Game 4 decision of Barangay Ginebra that boosted the Llamados all the way to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Bowles scored 20 points in the first half and had nine in the fourth that put the Gin Kings away before nearly 13,000 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
B-Meg took a 3-1 victory in their Final Four series for the franchise’s 22nd title series stint.
“The comeback that Denzel had, after a tough game the game before, was just amazing,” B-Meg coach Tim Cone, who is in the finals with a different team for the first time, said. “And that’s what really inspired us in the second half.”
B-Meg came back from a 14-point first quarter deficit through Bowles and Joe Devance and at least a couple of bum calls from the referees in the second period as the Llamados took a 58-46 lead at the half after a 19-0 run.
So in command was B-Meg in the second half that it enjoyed a 21-point lead, 80-59, with 3:20 remaining after a breakaway dunk by JC Intal.
Bowles, now looming as the prime candidate for the Best Import award, finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Talk ‘N Text and Barako Bull clash in the rubber match of their best-of-five Final Four series today, with Energy coach Junnel Baculi now the one asking for a fair shake in the officiating at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The scores:
B-MEG 108—Bowles 34, Devance 18, Yap 16, Simon 11, Pingris 7, Barroca 5, Intal 5, Villanueva 5, De Ocampo 4, Reavis 2, Urbiztondo 1, Acuna 0, Gaco 0.
GINEBRA 84—Ababou 17, Vroman 14, Cortez 13, Canaleta 12, Helterbrand 10, Hatfield 8, Raymundo 5, Labagala 3, Mamaril 2, Wilson 0, Villanueva 0.
Quarters: 24-31, 58-46, 86-71, 108-84