Cone ejection fuels B-Meg comeback over Petron

Marcus Blakely vs Jay Washington PBA IMAGE/Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines – B-Meg head coach Tim Cone got ejected and that somehow sparked the Llamados second half turn around en route to a 104-93 come-from-behind win over Petron Blaze Wednesday night to maintain its hold of the second spot in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cone got thrown after picking up his second technical foul at the 1:43 mark of the second period just seconds after the Boosters built their biggest lead of the game, 57-38.

The Llamados were able to go on a mini-run to cut some of the deficit at the end of the half and appeared to have carried their momentum in the final two quarters.

Giving all the credit to his four assistant coaches, Cone let Jeffrey Cariaso, Richard del Rosario, Johnny Abbarientos and Koy Banal do the talking during the post-game interview.

“We didn’t do anything different in the second half,” said Cariaso.

“We just executed our gameplan in the second half,” added del Rosario.

B-Meg went on a blistering 16-2 run capped by a second Jonas Villanueva triple to tie the game at 81.

Do-it-all import Marcus Blakely collected 35 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, five steals and three blocks. He had 15 in the fourth quarter alone including a tomahawk dunk from near the free throw line.

B-Meg tasted its first lead of the game, 86-84, on Blakely’s free throws with 6:23 left and would never lose its grip.

Petron showed signs of life as it closed to within two, 87-89, but B-Meg surged anew with a 15-2 blast to seal the game.

B-Meg upped its mark to 8-3 while also dealing Petron a huge blow in its hopes to make a last push for a Finals slot.

Alex Cabagnot had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Boosters, who got futile contribution from import Marcus Faison.

Faison only scored 12 points.