Llamados coast to 3rd straight win, dump Tigers

B-Meg Derby Ace is proving that it's more than just a James Yap squad. Yap, the two-time Most Valuable Player, took a back seat to super sub Peter June Simon the last time out. This time, he gave way to the other Yap, Roger, who shone on both ends of the floor. With James getting more than a little help from his friends, the defending champion Llamados posted their third straight win with an 85-73 triumph over the Powerade Tigers in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday. But just as in its previous games, the Llamados started cold, trailing 16-26 in the first period and 35-42 at the break. Then Roger Yap presided over the Llamados’ offense. The veteran guard came alive and scored 11 of his team-high 18 in the final canto, triggering the Llamados’ breakaway. Ahead by only five, 74-69, with still less than five minutes go, Yap took over and scored the Llamados’ next seven points, capped by a booming triple with 2:22 left, to give his squad a comfortable 81-71 spread. B-Meg held on to pick up their fourth win in nine games and move up to the middle of the pack. ‘’Una, yung adjustment namin na ginawa sa depensa talaga. Tapos sinabihan ko sila na magpasahan kami nung second half,’’ said Yap . Rico Maierhoffer also had a solid all-around game. He finished with 18 points on top of 13 rebounds. B-Meg head tactician Jorge Gallent admitted he is getting used to his team’s slow start. But he was happy to see his squad finding ways to win. “We’re just lucky again. Other guys stepped up for us. Ngayon naman si Rico (Maierhoffer) and sina Jonas (Villanueva) stepped up. Another bad start, but it resulted in a victory, so we’ll take it,’’ said Gallent. PJ Simon, who was coming off a career-high 42 points in his last game, chipped in 16 while Villanueva added 13. With B-Meg Derby Ace slowly but surely picking up its game, the team hopes to receive another boost when do-it-all forward Marc Pingris arrives on Tuesday to play for the Llamados’ game against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Friday. ‘’Ping will be back on the 16th and if everything goes well, he’ll play against Rain or Shine,’’ said Gallent. The Tigers absorbed their third straight defeat to fall to 3-6. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV