ADRIAN DY, GMA NEWS
The B-MEG Llamados may have found their new "Big Three" in the form of Peter June Simon, James Yap, and Yancy De Ocampo.
The trio combined for 55 points in their side's 96-88 win over the Barangay Ginebra Kings, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in the PBA Governor's Cup.
"They lived up to their reputation," said B-MEG head coach Tim Cone of Barangay Ginebra. "They just kept coming back....Big difference was they had a bad shooting night, we had a good shooting night."
The Kings looked poised to take over the game right off the bat, powering out to a 13-4 run ignited by eight points by Kerby Raymundo, but B-MEG looked unfazed, countering with 12 unanswered markers to take an early first quarter lead, 24-22.
Back-to-back scores by Mark "The Spark" Caguioa swung things back in favor of the Kings early in the second, but the Llamados detonated another huge run, turning a two-point deficit into a 10 point lead, 38-28.
Barangay Ginebra King Mark Caguioa (right) is caught mid-air by JC Intal. Nuki Sabio
Twin triples by JC Intal further increased their advantage, along with charities by Simon and Commissioner's Cup Finals MVP Yap, 49-36, except Ginebra managed to save some face by closing on a 6-2 spurt to enter the half down by just 12, 51-39.
The Kings came out of the halftime break guns blazing, as three different players contributed to an 8-0 run that had Ginebra within four, 51-47. Despite B-MEG countering with great play from De Ocampo, BGK drew even closer, 58-55, off an and-one play by Raymundo.
Refusing to see their lead disappear, the one-two punch of Simon and Yap poured in eight unanswered to reconstruct their double-digit lead, 66-55. The game of runs continued though, as Ginebra closed out the third on seven unanswered, the last two coming on a pair of charities by import Cedric Bozeman, who got fouled right before the buzzer, 72-66.
One more push by the Kings had them within three again, as Bozeman connected from long range at the 7:47 mark of the final period, 80-77, only to have B-MEG easily get it back with a split at the line by import Marqus Blakely, and a clutch triple from Yap.
With a minute and change remaining, Raymundo picked up a Caguioa miss and dished it to Bozeman for the score, to make it 92-88, keeping Ginebra's hopes alive. However, after a wide open Rafi Reavis lay-in, point guard Mike Cortez was unable to drill in a desperately needed stop-and-pop triple, 94-88.
Forced to foul, Ginebra seemingly got a break when Jonas Villanueva couldn't connect on charities, but Blakely was there for the repossession, finding Mark Barroca, who knocked down the free throws to seal the game.
Simon shook off a hard fall late in the game to lead the Llamados with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Yap added 18 markers, while De Ocampo was the answer down low, tallying 16 points and eight rebounds, to compensate for the injured Marc Pingris and Joe Devance.
Import Marcus Blakely had a rough night on offense for B-MEG though, scoring just 13 on 18 tries, but it was at the line where he was sorely lacking, converting a mere 3-of-15 free throws.
Ginebra got a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds from their foreign swingman Cedric Bozeman, and the best game yet as a King for Kerby Raymundo, 20 points and five rebounds.
Mark Caguioa, who suffered an eye injury that prevented him from participating in his squad's Commissioner's Cup semifinal series against B-MEG while playing the same team in the elimination round, was unable to get a measure of revenge. Last conference's Best Player managed just eight points, missing all five of his triple tries.
The Llamados ruled the offensive glass, 17-11 and lorded it over the second-chance points category, 9-2. They also got five swats, to just one by the Kings.
Both teams are now 1-1 in the standings, with B-MEG playing anew on June 1, against the Barako Bull Energy, while Ginebra returns to the court a day later in Cebu, versus the Meralco Bolts. - GMA News
The scores:
B-MEG 96 - Simon 21, Yap 18, De Ocampo 16, Blakely 13, Intal 10, Villanueva 6, Reavis 6, Barroca 4, Urbiztondo 2, Gaco 0
Ginebra 88 - Bozeman 30, Raymundo 20, Caguioa 8, Maliksi 7, Canaleta 7, Cortez 6, Hatfield 6, Villanueva 4, J. Wilson 0, W. Wilson 0
Quarter scoring: 24-22, 51-39, 72-66, 96-88
The B-MEG Llamados may have found their new "Big Three" in the form of Peter June Simon, James Yap, and Yancy De Ocampo.
The trio combined for 55 points in their side's 96-88 win over the Barangay Ginebra Kings, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in the PBA Governor's Cup.
"They lived up to their reputation," said B-MEG head coach Tim Cone of Barangay Ginebra. "They just kept coming back....Big difference was they had a bad shooting night, we had a good shooting night."
The Kings looked poised to take over the game right off the bat, powering out to a 13-4 run ignited by eight points by Kerby Raymundo, but B-MEG looked unfazed, countering with 12 unanswered markers to take an early first quarter lead, 24-22.
Back-to-back scores by Mark "The Spark" Caguioa swung things back in favor of the Kings early in the second, but the Llamados detonated another huge run, turning a two-point deficit into a 10 point lead, 38-28.
Barangay Ginebra King Mark Caguioa (right) is caught mid-air by JC Intal. Nuki Sabio
Twin triples by JC Intal further increased their advantage, along with charities by Simon and Commissioner's Cup Finals MVP Yap, 49-36, except Ginebra managed to save some face by closing on a 6-2 spurt to enter the half down by just 12, 51-39.
The Kings came out of the halftime break guns blazing, as three different players contributed to an 8-0 run that had Ginebra within four, 51-47. Despite B-MEG countering with great play from De Ocampo, BGK drew even closer, 58-55, off an and-one play by Raymundo.
Refusing to see their lead disappear, the one-two punch of Simon and Yap poured in eight unanswered to reconstruct their double-digit lead, 66-55. The game of runs continued though, as Ginebra closed out the third on seven unanswered, the last two coming on a pair of charities by import Cedric Bozeman, who got fouled right before the buzzer, 72-66.
One more push by the Kings had them within three again, as Bozeman connected from long range at the 7:47 mark of the final period, 80-77, only to have B-MEG easily get it back with a split at the line by import Marqus Blakely, and a clutch triple from Yap.
With a minute and change remaining, Raymundo picked up a Caguioa miss and dished it to Bozeman for the score, to make it 92-88, keeping Ginebra's hopes alive. However, after a wide open Rafi Reavis lay-in, point guard Mike Cortez was unable to drill in a desperately needed stop-and-pop triple, 94-88.
Forced to foul, Ginebra seemingly got a break when Jonas Villanueva couldn't connect on charities, but Blakely was there for the repossession, finding Mark Barroca, who knocked down the free throws to seal the game.
Simon shook off a hard fall late in the game to lead the Llamados with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Yap added 18 markers, while De Ocampo was the answer down low, tallying 16 points and eight rebounds, to compensate for the injured Marc Pingris and Joe Devance.
Import Marcus Blakely had a rough night on offense for B-MEG though, scoring just 13 on 18 tries, but it was at the line where he was sorely lacking, converting a mere 3-of-15 free throws.
Ginebra got a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds from their foreign swingman Cedric Bozeman, and the best game yet as a King for Kerby Raymundo, 20 points and five rebounds.
Mark Caguioa, who suffered an eye injury that prevented him from participating in his squad's Commissioner's Cup semifinal series against B-MEG while playing the same team in the elimination round, was unable to get a measure of revenge. Last conference's Best Player managed just eight points, missing all five of his triple tries.
The Llamados ruled the offensive glass, 17-11 and lorded it over the second-chance points category, 9-2. They also got five swats, to just one by the Kings.
Both teams are now 1-1 in the standings, with B-MEG playing anew on June 1, against the Barako Bull Energy, while Ginebra returns to the court a day later in Cebu, versus the Meralco Bolts. - GMA News
The scores:
B-MEG 96 - Simon 21, Yap 18, De Ocampo 16, Blakely 13, Intal 10, Villanueva 6, Reavis 6, Barroca 4, Urbiztondo 2, Gaco 0
Ginebra 88 - Bozeman 30, Raymundo 20, Caguioa 8, Maliksi 7, Canaleta 7, Cortez 6, Hatfield 6, Villanueva 4, J. Wilson 0, W. Wilson 0
Quarter scoring: 24-22, 51-39, 72-66, 96-88
