Brgy. Ginebra Kings vs B-MEG Derby Llamados

MANILA, Philippines – B-Meg wore down Barangay Ginebra in a gut-wrenching battle with PJ Simon delivering the needed firepower at the finish as the Llamados pulled off an 83-77 win to move in the threshold of a first PBA finals in three years at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Simon poured eight of his 15 points in the last two minutes and the Llamados squeezed through from the tight duel, gaining a commanding two-game-to-nil lead versus the Kings in their Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal showdown.

B-Meg now has three shots at nailing a ninth final in import-laden tourneys and 22nd in all in franchise history.

“It takes a special effort to go 2-0 against a team like Ginebra. You need calmness, living through mistakes, living through bad calls and moving forward. We’re able to that,” said multi-titled coach Tim Cone, now on the verge of a first final outside of Alaska Milk.

“Do I think it’s over? You know better,” Cone added. “We put out a special effort tonight. We need special effort times two to make it 3-0.”

True enough, the Llamados dished out a huge job to survive a whale of a fight put up of the beleaguered Ginebra team.

Denzel Bowles came through with game highs of 21 points and 15 rebounds and drew all the help he needed from his local teammates as B-Meg repeated its 82-67 win in Game One.

The count was tied at 75-all before the Llamados cashed in on crucial errors by a Ginebra team obviously reeling from fatigue.

There was Jackson Vroman who had his battle with cramps.

Nino Canaleta played big coming off the bench but he himself lost steam at endgame.

The Kings scored only two points in the last three minutes, running into a maze of errors and missed shots.

Simon parlayed into a breakaway layup a turnover by Mike Cortez to break the 75-all deadlock. Then after Canaleta misfired a three-pointer, Simon canned two charities as the Llamados put more pressure on the Kings.

Vroman and his teammates failed to recover, moving on the brink of elimination.

The scores:

B-Meg 83 – Bowles 21, Yap 16, Simon 15, Urbiztondo 12, Pingris 12, Intal 3, Devance 2, Reavis 2, Barroca 0, Burtscher 0, Villanueva 0, De Ocampo 0.

Ginebra 77 – Canaleta 19, Cortez 17, Vroman 10, Helterbrand 8, Hatfield 8, Ababou 6, Raymundo 5, Wilson 3, Wilson, W. 1, Labagala 0, Mamaril 0.

Quarterscores: 23-19; 37-41; 63-59; 83-77.