MANILA, Philippines – Despite its injury problems, B-Meg Derby Ace showed steely resolve which PJ Simon best typified to become the first team to beat Smart Gilas in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Fighting off cramps in overtime, Simon buried a triple and a jaw-dropping reverse lay-up to help power the Llamados to a 98-90 victory that snapped a two-game slide.
Aside from snapping Gilas’ five-game winning run, B-Meg also revived its playoff bid.
Simon’ last basket gave the Llamados a 91-86 lead with 3:31 left in the extra period.
B-Meg import Shamari Spears, who likely played his last game since his replacement is expected to arrive Friday in former University of Southern Mississippi player Courtney Beasley, led the team in scoring with 26 points and eight rebounds.
Veteran forwards Marc Pingris and Kerby Raymundo, in his third game since missing nearly two conferences, had double-double productions, with the former collecting 18 and 19 rebounds, while the latter added 17 and 12 boards.
Nino Canaleta had 13 markers, highlighted by a big trey that gave B-Meg a 96-90 lead with 53.1 seconds to play in OT.
The victory improved the win-loss record of B-Meg at 3-4, which came at a crucial time with six key players out with injuries, including reigning MVP James Yap (strained right calf), Rafi Reavis (right hand), Jonas Villanueva (sprained right ankle), Don Allado (foot), Jondan Salvador (strained shoulder) and Rico Maierhofer (ACL).
“We just made the big plays in the endgame, we just kept it close,” said B-Meg mentor George Gallent. “Our defensive rotation became better and Shamari came out of the cave and played better. We’re able to go down the post too without the Gilas’ 6-10 import.”
Gallent, of course, is referring to Marcus Douthit, who left midway in the third quarter when he landed on the foot of Pingris and sprained his ankle.
Douthit did not return, thus allowing B-Meg bigmen, particularly Spears and Raymundo, to pound inside the shaded lane. The Llamados actually controlled the boards, 70-49, with 26 offensive boards that gave them 23 second chance points.
FROM SMB TO PETRON
Meanwhile, Petron Corporation is set to make its debut in the next conference as Petron Blaze 100 takes over the San Miguel Beermen in an effort to promote the fuel company’s business, brands and advocacies.
Petron, the country’s largest oil refiner supplying an estimated 40% of the nation’s fuel requirements, is a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, the Philippines’ rapidly diversifying food-to-power conglomerate and parent company of San Miguel Brewery, Inc
source : manilabulletin
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