B-Meg ties series

The two-day break after their Game 1 debacle worked wonders for the B-Meg Llamados as they thwarted the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 85-80, to tie their best-of-seven championship series of the 37th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum, last night.

Bouncing back from their, 91-80 Game 1 loss, the Llamados came in more prepared and adjusted well to the Painters’ physical game.

“We only had one day to prepare going into Game 1. The two days off allowed us to come up with a better game plan in Game 2,” said B-Meg head coach Tim Cone.

The Llamados led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter but the Painters rallied in the fourth. Good thing for the Llamados, they had James Yap to bail them out.

Yap tied his personal conference-high of 24 points, nine of them coming in the crucial fourth quarter.

Yap, who also had nine rebounds, capped his sterling performance with a big basket in the final 15.6 seconds—a fadeaway jumper over Jeff Chan that gave the Llamados a comfortable, 82-78 lead.

That basket deflated the Painters, who actually forced a 74-all tie—just the game’s second deadlock—after staring at double-digit deficits in the third.

Aside from failing to build a 2-0 series lead, the Painters also have an extra cause of concern to deal with after their top rookie Paul Lee aggravated a dislocated left shoulder.

With the Painters trailing, 74-79, Lee had to be lifted out of the court in the final 2:22 after hurting his shoulder while trying to swipe the ball away from PJ Simon’s hand.

Paramedics carried Lee on a stretcher and brought him to the hospital.

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao just shrugged off Lee’s injury. “We will win this series with or without Paul Lee,” said Guiao.

Cone for his part prefers to have Lee back.

“I hate to see Lee out of this series… am not comfortable to see him out. Honestly, I want to see him come back,” said Cone.

After scoring 25 points in Game 1, Rain or Shine import Jamelle Cornley scored just 18 last night, failing to get his game going after winning the Best Import award.

The Best Player of the Conference accolade went to Barangay Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa.

BOX SCORES
B-MEG (85)- Blakely 26, Yap 24, Simon 16, Barroca 8, De Ocampo 6, Villanueva 2, Pingris 2, Reavis 1, Urbiztondo 0.
RAIN OR SHINE (80)- Cornley 18, Chan 12, Lee 11, Cruz 10, Norwood 9, Buenafe 7, Ibanes 7, Belga 4, Arana 2, Tang 0, Quinahan 0. QUARTERSCORES: 21-26, 44-41, 65-60, 85-80.