Llamados stop endgame collapse, nip Painters

Derby Ace hang tough in the end and survived Sol Mercado and Rain or Shine, 86-84, in a crucial win that boosted the Llamados’ late, frantic push for an outright semis berth in the PBA Fiesta Cup. The Llamados lost grip of a huge 17-point first half lead as Mercado came through with an import-like performance behind a conference high 45 points on a remarkable 7-of-9 shooting from downtown.

And they again needed two big free throws from superstar James Yap in the final 38 seconds to pull the victory which coach Ryan Gregorio said his team badly needed. "We needed this win," he said on the Llamados’ 10th win in 15 outings, good for third place and well within sight of league leaders Talk `N Text (13-2) and defending champion San Miguel (11-3). "We will keep on fighting. We will keep on pushing." Yap topscored for Derby Ace with 20 points, again bailing his team out of danger the way he did many times in the past, while import Cliff Brown added 18 and was a monster off the boards with 23 rebounds. "We kind of expect that they’ll comeback, but we just handled the pressure down the stretch," said Brown. The Elasto Painters appeared to have a good shot at a game-winning basket after Rico Maierhofer missed his two free throws with five seconds to go and the score at 86-84. But an open Gabe Norwood at the right corner came up with a short three-pointer at the final buzzer, as the Elasto Painters suffered their seventh loss for an even 7-7 card. No other player besides Mercado finished in double figures for Rain or Shine as Norwood only had nine with Jeff Chan and Ryan Arana had seven apiece. Even worst was import Jai Lewis, who was held to just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field. A Yap three-pointer, six minutes before halftime, shoved the Llamados to their biggest lead at 41-23. It was still 57-74 midway in the final quarter when Mercado decided to put on a show. The Elasto Painters outscored the Llamados in the next five minutes, 25-9, to threaten at 82-83 which Mercado capped by connecting on back-to-back three pointers entering the final two minutes of play. "Sol Mercado was a man possessed," said Gregorio of the stocky Rain or Shine shooting guard. But Mercado also hastened the Elasto Painters’ downfall, opting to go for a trey and challenged James Yap’s defense instead of driving to the basket with the team trailing by just a point in the final minute. “We needed James Yap to stop the rampaging train called Sol Mercado," Gregorio added. The Elasto Painters threatened for the last time at 86-84 on two foul shots by Mercado six seconds left, before they dutifully sent Maierhofer to the foul line. - JVP, GMANews.TV