B-MEG TIES SERIES ON WALSHAM HEROICS

(From PBA)

MAKING the game’s biggest offensive play wasn’t enough for Tony Washam. He preserved it by pulling off the game’s biggest stop, too.

Derby Ace’s prolific import completed a three-point play with 7.9 seconds remaining, and then added further luster to it with a steal in the subsequent possession, and the Llamados successfully fought back from an 18-point deficit in a gut-wrenching 95-94 victory over San Miguel Beer Friday night in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

The man who struggled in the series opener on 6-of-18 field-goal shooting scored 33 points, 10 coming in the final period punctuated by a strong move to the basket. He connected on a lay-up, drew the sixth and final foul from Gabe Freeman and sank the bonus shot as Derby Ace tied the series at one game apiece.

But before the Llamados could celebrate, they still had to go through a tense moment in the Beermen’s final offensive play. As it turned out, Washam was there again to save them.

Washam stole the ball from the blind side when Danny Seigle attempted to make a pirouette move inside the paint, and then hurled the ball up onto their front court as he recovered the ball.

“It’s always nice to win against San Miguel Beer,” said Llamados coach Ryan Greogorio. “We’re back from scratch and let’s just hope we can pull off an upset. But there are still a lot of things we have to improve on. The rewards are really tremendous if you win against a highly fancied team.”

Playing in his only fourth game in the league, Washam also pulled down seven rebounds and four steals, and James Yap added 18 points and nine rebounds for Derby Ace, which was nearly written off after getting buried by a 45-27 deficit in the second period.

Don Allado contributed 15 points despite fouling out with 4:38 left to play for the Llamados, who conquered the Beermen despite being outrebounded 50-39 and shooting merely 37.8 percent from the field (31-of-82).

“The other thing we have to work on is how to figure out a way to score easy baskets,” said Gregorio. “We’re practically bleeding. That’s goes to show how tough their defense is.”

No one, though, will question how determined these Llamados are.

They didn’t give up when San Miguel threatened to rip the game wide open in the first half, never lost hope when, after coming to within 57-53, the Beermen stormed back to a double-digit lead at 70-57 late in the third period.

And they never waived the white flag when Alex Cabagnot had a split from the line to push the Beermen to a 94-92 lead.

With no more time-out left, Derby Ace ran its offensive play as if it was implanted on the players’ memory. Washam took the ball at long court, before beating Arwind Santos with his first step and driving hard to the basket.

Santos had 19 points to lead the Beermen in scoring, while Freeman had another monster game that went to the trash bin with 18 points and 21 rebounds.

The scores:

B-Meg Derby Ace (95) - Washam 33, Yap J. 18, Allado 15, Yap R. 9, Pingris 6, Reavis 5, Timberlake 2, Salvador 2, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Maierhofer 1, Canaleta 0.

San Miguel Beer (94) - Santos 19, Freeman 18, Washington 13, Hontiveros 9, Ildefonso 9, Villanueva 8, Cabagnot 8, Yeo 7, Seigle 3, Pena 0.

Quarterscores: 18-30, 45-57, 74-79, 95-94