PBA: TNT wins via rout, B-MEG pulls off come-from-behind victory

The two prior champions of the current season pulled off contrasting victories Wednesday at the Smart Arantea Coliseum, as Talk 'N Text easily romped over the Meralco Bolts, 108-84, while the B-MEG Llamados bucked the ejection of head coach Tim Cone to win 104-93 over the Petron Blaze Boosters in the semifinals of the PBA Governors Cup

Marqus Blakely scored the Llamados' opening points off a tip, but Alex Cabagnot countered for the Blaze Boosters, with 10 points in a 14-8 run, capping it off with a trey that forced B-MEG to sue for time with seven minutes left in the first period.

Marc Pingris put B-Meg in double digits, followed by a transition basket by James Yap to cut the deficit to two, but the Llamados were stymied on offense as they were repeatedly frustrated in the paint. Marcus Faison and Jay Washington carried the cudgels for the Boosters, scoring Petron's next 12 markers, bringing the lead to double digits, 26-16, as Faison rifled one in from downtown.

A one-handed slam by Pingris below three minutes in the period was the Llamados' final basket in the quarter. But more buckets converted by Danny Ildefonso and Arwind Santos pushed Petron ahead, 32-19, after the first canto.

A pair of free throws from Yancy de Ocampo and a wide-open layup by Rafi Reavis restored the Llamados' offense at the start of the second quarter. But things got ugly for B-MEG as Santos drained a trey, and Blakely fouled Chris Lutz on a block attempt, committing a goaltend and giving up a three-point play.

Petron converted on a technical foul call on the same play, and that sequence was largely responsible for a 45-26 margin in favor of the Boosters with under seven minutes in the frame.

Blakely turned his frustration into fuel as he and Pingris exploited the Boosters' interior defense, putting together 10 points in a 12-6 run for the Llamados with over two minutes left in the half. Cabagnot resurfaced for Petron to drain back-to-back treys, pushing his team back on top, 57-38.

B-MEG coach Tim Cone was ejected with under two minutes to play for arguing with the officials, but in his absence, PJ Simon and Mark Barocca found ways to score in transition, swishing six unanswered points to set the tally at 57-44 at the onset of halftime.

The defensive intensity carried over when play resumed in the third quarter for the Llamados. Pingris cut to the rim to complete a 7-4 burst in the first two minutes of the half. Baskets by Ildefonso and Joseph Yeo kept B-MEG at bay, but Pingris scored in the paint anew and Urbiztondo drained a three in transition to cut the lead to five, 64-59.

Blakely scored four of his team's last eight in the quarter as the Llamados hung around in the game, 74-67, heading into the payoff period.

Petron scored five unanswered points in the fourth, courtesy of a deuce by Santos and a triple from Dondon Hontiveros to keep the Boosters afloat, 79-67, but B-Meg suddenly caught fire from downtown as they buried four triples from as many players. A long bomb from Jonas Villanueva tied the game at 81 apiece with under eight minutes remaining in the game.

Cabagnot fired a triple from the right baseline, but Blakely neutralized it with an and-one play on the next possession. B-MEG then simply smothered Petron on defense, limiting them to a single field goal over the next four minutes as Yap and Pingris racked up the points on the other end. The pair scored eight in a 10-3 run that grabbed the lead for good for the Llamados.


Washington slammed a quick one home in the hopes of reigniting Petron's engines, 94-89 with under four minutes to play, but Blakely crushed in six straight points in the next minute to destroy any hopes of a Petron comeback.

Import center Marqus Blakely had a spectacular game, posting 35 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three blocks. James Yap, despite playing injured, scored 20 points, including 11 markers in the second half, and Marc Pingris also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards. PJ Simon chipped in 10 of his own points.

Point guard Alex Cabagnot finished the game with 22 points, scoring 17 in the first half. Jay Washington followed up his effort with 15 points and also tied Cabagnot with six assists. Arwind Santos and Danny Ildefonso added 14 points apiece, while Chris Lutz notched 12 points.

Petron turned the ball over 17 times and B-MEG capitalized on each and every miscue, scoring 24 points off their mistakes. They also rang in 17 points in transition, versus just 10 by the Blaze Boosters.

In the first game, the All-Filipino Cup champs Talk 'N Text were in full control all throughout the match, jumping out to a 31-16 first quarter lead that they easily maintained until the final buzzer.

The hapless Bolts, already without a chance of making the Finals due to their record, allowed their sister team, the Tropang Texters, to shoot 57.1 percent from the floor on route to the 24-point rout of a final score.


Ranidel De Ocampo led TNT with 24 points, missing just one of his nine attempts, while Japeth Aguilar produced a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Import Mario West led Meralco with 21 points, but he needed 17 attempts to get there.

Three-point shooting was once again Meralco's bane, as they were a paltry 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. Talk 'N Text, by contrast, made 9 of their 16 long bombs.

The result of the two games had B-MEG still in second place with an 8-3 slate, Talk 'N Text moving into fourth (6-5), while Petron (6-6) and Meralco (4-8) brought up the rear, thanks to the regular season records carrying over to the semifinal round. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Game one:

TNT 108 - De Ocampo 24, Aguilar 20, Alapag 12, Williams 11, Harris 10, Peek 8, Castro 7, Fonacier 5, Alvarez 5, Raymundo 4, Gamalinda 2, Aban 0, Lao 0

Meralco 84 - West 21, Cardona 13, Daa 11, Mercado 9, Bulawan 8, Taulava 6, Hugnatan 5, Ballesteros 4, Reyes 4, Borboran 3, Ross 0, Timberlake 0, Artadi 0

Quarter scoring: 31-16, 64-43, 89-63, 108-84


Game two:

B-MEG 104 - Blakely 35, Yap 20, Pingris 18, Simon 10, Villanueva 8, Reavis 4, De Ocampo 4, Urbiztondo 3, Barroca 2.

Petron 93 - Cabagnot 22, Washington 15, Santos 14, Ildefonso 14, Faison 12, Lutz 6, Hontiveros 5, Yeo 2, Miranda 2, Pena 1.

Quarter scoring: 19-32, 44-57, 67-74, 104-93