MANILA, Philippines – With James Yap at his worst, Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis stepped up and churned out their best games as B-MEG Derby Ace stopped San Miguel Beer, 88-82, to force a Game Six in their PBA Fiesta Conference best-of-seven semifinals showdown at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
Pingris and Reavis piled up double-double numbers as they came to Derby Ace’s rescue and kept the team’s hopes for a possible double championship in the season.
Pingris tossed in 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Reavis knocked in 16 markers and hauled down 13 boards as the Llamados checked a two-game slide and reduced the Beermen’s lead to 3-2 in the series.
The two merely averaged combined numbers of 8.8 points and 11.5 rebounds in the first four games of the series.
They emerged the Derby Ace’s men of the hour as Yap was shackled by the San Miguel defense, limited to a conference-low of seven points.
Tony Washam was also a factor as he saved his best for last, pouring in 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter.
“With the San Miguel defense concentrated on James and Tony, it’s so nice to see Marc and Rafi score the crucial points we needed to stay alive. They took it upon themselves to deliver,” said Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio.
“We’re really trying to dig deep and trying to salvage the conference. We’re so lucky we’re able to pull through,” Gregorio added.
SMB coach Siot Tanquingcen said they failed to make the needed extra push in Game Five but he remained confident they could close out the series.
“They got 37 free throws as against our 20. It might be an indication that we lacked the aggressiveness in this game,” said Tanquingcen.
With their back against the wall, the Llamados fought with tremendous energy and intensity, battling the Beermen through seven deadlocks and 20 lead changes before building a commanding lead at the finish.
Washam presided over a decisive Derby Ace endgame romp that had them racing away from a 76-77 count with three minutes left to play.
“The battle cry for us is to compete and live another day. It’s been a familiar refrain from the Rain or Shine series,” said Gregorio.
Later in the night, Jason Castro drove past Joe De Vance for the go-ahead basket and Talk n Text made a huge defensive stop in the closing seconds as the Texters eked out an 82-81 thriller of a win over the Alaska Milk Aces for the 3-2 lead in their own semis duel.
“It boiled down to heart and guts. I have to give it to the players. Alaska made a run couples of times but we didn’t go away,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.
“I’d like to be happy with this win but we’ve only one day to prepare and be ready for a huge, huge Alaska fightback. That’s gonna be the real pivotal game,” Reyes added.
Pingris and Reavis rose to the occasion, both doing a good job to help the team narrow the gap in rebounding.
Though still outrebounded, the Llamados got the more important rebounds that helped them through in the game.
Reavis and Pingris grabbed a rebound each, paving the way for Washam to knock in key free throws that gave them an 84-79 lead with time down to 31.8 seconds.
Going down the drain was Gabe Freeman’s solid game marked by a season-high 25 rebounds on top of 18 points.
