PBA: Meralco continues surge, shocks poiseless B-MEG

Two games ago, the B-MEG Llamados were hoping for an automatic semifinals bid. Now they're a game away from an early summer vacation.   The sixth seed Meralco Bolts applied pressure defense from start to finish and unraveled their third-ranked rival Llamados, coming out with a decisive 103-81 victory Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum, in the second post-season match of the PBA Commissioner's Cup.   The loss makes next Wednesday's affair a must-win game for B-MEG, due to the best-of-three nature of the quarterfinals.   The Bolts came out with more fire in their bellies, quickly establishing a 27-12 lead capped by a Sol Mercado triple. Unsatisfied at the end of the first quarter, Meralco continued to grow their advantage to as much as 23, thanks to a dunk in transition by Bolts import Earl Barron, 50-27.   Looking for someone to rally the team, the Llamados turned to "Big Game" James Yap, who canned a triple and then nailed three charities, making the score a more palatable 50-33 with 2:45 left in the first half.   In the third, B-MEG managed to close out the quarter with six straight points by Peter June Simon and JC Intal, slicing their deficit to eight, 77-69. With Meralco reeling, the fourth quarter saw rookie Mark Barroca connect on a triple, and Josh Urbiztondo score in transition off a turnover to make it a three-point affair, 80-77 with 7:57 left.   But that was as close as the Llamados would get, as Mac Cardona put the Bolts on his back to close out the game. "Captain Hook" scored after the two sides exchanged turnovers, and then after a B-MEG miss, found Mark Macapagal for a huge triple, 85-77, forcing Llamados coach Tim Cone to sue for time.   But the timeout didn't seem to work, as the Llamados offense seemingly dried up. Meralco notched seven more points to make it 92-77 with 4:09 left, causing a frustrated Cone to earn his second technical foul with less than a minute and a half separating the offenses. By the time B-MEG connected once more from the field, on a Simon score, they were down 98-79 with a little over three minutes left. A flagrant foul by Yancy De Ocampo on Cardona then allowed Meralco to rebuild their 20-point lead, making the game's last few moments a mere formality.   Earl Barron tallied a game-high 34 points and hauled down 11 boards, while Cardona added 22 on 10-of-16 shooting for the Bolts, who have won five of their last six games. They've also won three in a row, thanks in large part to a resurgent Asi Taulava, who contributed 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in this outing.   Meralco was also able to buck hits to their team's depth. Paul Artadi was dressed, but the one-sided affair allowed the team to rest him further, while Gabby Espinas was in civilian wear on the bench.   B-MEG got 21 points from James Yap, marking just the first time he eclipsed 20 points in the Commissioner's Cup. Import Denzel Bowles had a slow start, but finished with 18.   After a promising 5-2 start, the Llamados have now hit the skids, dropping 3 of their last 4, including a play-off against sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings that would have given them a first round bye. Meralco dominated B-MEG in the hustle stats, tripling their fastbreak points 18 to 6, and more than doubling their turnover points, 27 to 13. And save for the Llamados' 31-point bomb in the third period, the Bolts' defense held B-MEG to under 20 points in the other three quarters. - KBK, GMA News     The scores: Meralco Bolts 103 - Barron 34, Cardona 22, Ross 12, Taulava 12, Mercado 10, Macapagal 8, Hugnatan 5, Timberlake 0, Borboran 0. B-MEG Llamados 81 - Yap 21, Bowles 18, Simon 12, Devance 9, Urbiztondo 5, De Ocampo 5, Pingris 4, Barroca 3, Intal 2, Reavis 2, Burtscher 0, Villanueva 0. Quarter scores: 32-19, 54-38, 77-69, 103-81