Powerade's Gary David torches B-MEG as Tigers beat Llamados

Gary David won his scoring duel against James Yap as No. 8 Powerade downed top seed B-MEG, 97-88, to force a sudden death in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals playoffs Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. David torched the Llamados for 32 points in just three quarters, 22 of them coming in the opening half when the Lyceum stalwart buried four three-pointers to set the tone for the stunning win. The Powerade shooting guard finished with a 13-of-21 field goal shooting and had five assists. Rookie Marcio Lassiter added 24 and Doug Kramer scored 10. The winner-take-all match, for a shot to earn a semis berth, will be on Sunday. "It's not over. We still have a game on Sunday," said Powerade coach Bo Perasol. "But who knows? We'll take our chances." James Yap tallied 21 points for the Llamados, the elimination round topnotcher which only needs to beat the Tigers once to enter the semis. Peter June Simon added 16 while Marc Pingris and Kerby Raymundo combined for 23 points in a losing effort for B-MEG on a night Llamados coach Tim Cone turned 54 years old. David was the one who spoiled Cone’s special night, draining basket after basket in the first two quarters when the Tigers raced to a 32-21 lead before settling for a 50-39 edge at the half. The Llamados scored the first seven points of the third to move within four, 50-46. But David teamed up with Lassiter and JV Casio to keep B-MEG at bay, holding on to a 79-71 lead entering the final 12 minutes of play. The Llamados, however, failed to score in the first four minutes of the final quarter and found themselves trailing behind by as many as 87-71 after a Rommel Adducul split from the foul line. — JVP/KG, GMA News