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Monday, July 26, 2010

BEERMEN GIVE LLAMADOS DOSE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE, NOW LEAD 2-1

(From PBA)

THERE is another side to San Miguel Beer it fully bared to B-Meg Derby Ace Sunday.

The Beermen were at their most awesome on the defensive end in hacking out a 74-70 victory and wresting back the upper hand in their PBA Fiesta Conference semifinals series at the Araneta Coliseum.

Arwind Santos drained a crucial right corner triple that shattered the last deadlock and pegged a 73-70 count, still 65 seconds to go, before SMB harried Derby Ace into muffing three of its last four offensive thrusts.

The only other Llamados possession resulted in a decisive inbounding error and led to a charity by Dondon Hontiveros for the final count, only 21.7 ticks left.

That tough defensive stance after being jolted by several 12-point deficits early enabled SMB to hold Derby Ace to just 25 points in the second half, both a conference low and season-tying worst for the league.

It also resulted in the win that bounced the Beermen back from a numbing 94-95 loss in the best-of-seven duel’s Game 2 only last Friday and made coach Siot Tanquingcen beam about his charges’ overall defensive efforts.

“It was a conscious effort on our part,” said Tanquingcen, whose team also won the opener 101-88.

“Even if people say we have some good talent on the offensive end, talent can only get you so far, eh. Pagdating ng playoffs everybody’s talented naman, so you have to make stops to give yourself some chance to get ahead a little.”

Only Tony Washam’s step-back jumper at the final 1:23 mark was the only endgame field goal allowed by SMB, which went into the series ranked behind Derby Ace in points allowed during the eliminations but now leads all semifinalists in that category.

Prior to that twinner, Washam’s back-to-the-basket tip-in gave Derby Ace a 68-65 lead which soon vanished in the last 4:46.

B-Meg Derby Ace wound up scoring 21, 13 and 12 points in the last three quarters and shot just 5-of-18 and 4-of-20 from the field in the third and fourth periods.

Ironically, B-Meg Derby Ace did the same to SMB in Game 2, enabling the Llamados to come charging back from an early 18-point deficit.

Aside from anchoring the defense on James Yap, Hontiveros led SMB with 17 points, while Gabe Freeman bucked foul trouble to finish with 14 points and a gamehigh 20 rebounds.

Washam paced B-Meg Derby Ace with 22 points, including half of his team’s fourth quarter output. James Yap chipped in 17 but he went 0-of-4 from the field in the fourth.

Veteran Olsen Racela typified the Beermen’s defense by going on an all-out sprint and blocking from behind KG Canaleta’s buzzer-beating triple try just before the third period ended, foiling the latter’s bid to add on to his team’s 58-57 edge.

That play not only drew appreciative cheers from the hordes of fans who braved the heavy rains and floods to watch the games, but also inspired the rest of the Beermen to intensify their efforts.

It also planted the seeds of doubt on the collective minds of the Llamados, who opened up the game 13-1, led by as much as 17 in the second and still enjoyed a 45-33 halftime lead. (NC)

The scores:

San Miguel Beer  74 – Hontiveros 17, Freeman 14, Washington 12, Santosd 8, Pena 6, Villanueva 5, Yeo 5, Cabagnot 5, Seigle 2, Racela 0, Ildefonso 0.

B-Meg Derby Ace 70 – Washam 22, Yap J. 17, Allado 10, Timberlake 5, Artadi 5, Pingris 4, Canaleta 3, Maierhofer 2, Salvador 0, Yap R. 0.

Quarterscores: 14-24; 33-45; 57-58; 74-70

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