Llamados, Aces reach Final Four

MANILA, Philippines - B-Meg Derby Ace squandered a 23-point lead but held on to upend a resilient Rain or Shine, 105-100, in overtime and clinch one of the two hotly disputed semifinal berths in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

In the second game, Diamon Simpson scored nine of his 24 points in the final six minutes, including the game-winner off a Joe De Vance pass with five ticks left, as Alaska ousted Barangay Ginebra from the semis picture via a 93-91 win.

The Aces, who opened up a 2-0 lead in the quarterfinal series only to drop the next two, thus ended the comeback bid of Ginebra before a crowd of 21,062. They next take on top seed Talk N Text in the semis.

 Import Tony Washam exploded for a new season-high 49 points and got help from James Yap and Rafi Reavis in the extra period as B-Meg finished off the Elasto Painters, 3-2, and earned the right to face San Miguel in a best-of-seven semifinal.

“This was by far the toughest, the most emotional game I’ve had. Rain or Shine played with so much athleticism and Sol Mercado was incredible,” said a relieved B-Meg coach Ryan Gregorio, whose squad completed a comeback from a 1-2 series deficit.

“We’re up by a comfortable lead but we somehow got stuck up. We played with practically one leg, a lot of guys are playing hurt but the opportunity to play in the semis was just to big to pass up. This speaks well of the kind of heart our players possess,” said Gregorio.

Washam, who arrived only three days ago for Clif Brown, followed up his 29-point production in Game 4 with 49 in the decider, the highest production since Purefoods’ Darius Rice banged in 56 on April 2, 2008 against Magnolia.

His massive scoring, highlighted by six triples and laced with four steals, eased the load on Yap, who was bogged by nasal congestion.

Yap, though, managed to score six crucial points in OT, including a pair of free throws that gave the Llamados a 98-92 lead with 59.4 seconds remaining, and a 104-100 cushion going to the last 10.1 seconds. He finished with 13 points.

B-Meg also got 17 points from rookie Rico Maierhofer, who fired 15 in the first half that helped lift the Llamados to a commanding 56-33 bulge late in the second and a 58-40 spread at the break.

Gregorio took notice of Washam’s sizzling performance. “He’s incredible, he came in only three days ago but he already scored 49 points so you can imagine that he has a lot more to offer. Tony Washam came in just at the right place and at the right time.”

Gabe Norwood (25 points) and Mercado (23 points) led the attack for Rain or Shine, which hardly used import Rod Nealy (12 points in 29 minutes).

With Nealy sitting on the bench, RoS overturned an 18-point halftime deficit with a giant surge in the third anchored on Mercado’s 12 markers, and Laure and Jervy Cruz’s 10 apiece to close in at 69-72 entering the payoff period.

The Elasto Painters continued to turn the heat from there, grabbing an 88-85 edge after a triple by Mercado and a putback by Laure with 1:41 left in regulation.