Boosters, Aces keep drive for final alive

MANILA, Philippines - Sunday Salvacion and Arwind Santos delivered big plays in the crunch and Petron Blaze withstood B-Meg’s gutsy challenge, squeezing out a 97-92 win that kept the Boosters in contention for the PBA Governors Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Alaska Milk clung onto life as it topped Rain or Shine, 95-89, in their knockout setto later in the night.

The bad news is that the Aces have to pray for a Rain or Shine win over Barangay Ginebra tomorrow to salvage the second finals seat.

It’s Petron should it finish in a three-way tie with Alaska and Barangay Ginebra.

Ginebra gets it if it beats Rain or Shine and Petron loses to Talk n Text.

Salvacion fired a crucial trey then Santos foiled a drive by James Yap and later drilled in a free throw and made a short stab as the Boosters salvaged the game and stayed alive with a 7-5 win-loss card heading to the final play date of the semifinals.

The Llamados went all out in a bid to end their season on a winning note, but still came up short, closing out the conference with a 5-8 card.

They wound up with a 20-24 record in the season, the team’s all-time biggest slide from the previous season after collecting 41 wins against 23 losses in the 2009-2010 campaign.

Petron coach Ato Agustin could only heave a big sigh of relief after the contest.

“I just couldn’t understand. It looked like B-Meg wanted it more,” rued Agustin as they barely hurdled the long ousted Llamados.

The two teams engaged in a fierce battle, fighting through 22 lead changes and seven deadlocks before Petron surged ahead to stay at 89-88 on a triple by Salvacion with 1:37 left to play.

The Boosters made it a four-point game, 94-90, as Danny Ildefonso canned in two charities after Santos blocked a drive by Yap.

Santos himself settled the outcome of the game with a free throw, preserving import Anthony Grundy’s near triple-double job with 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Petron played minus injured players Alex Cabagnot and Joseph Yeo then lost Rabeh Al-Hussaini after sustaining a suspected ACL tear late in the first half.

“We have health problems but we’ll be there fighting to the very end,” said Agustin.

The Boosters must beat the Talk n Text side in the final game of the semis tomorrow to get a shot at the second finals berth. 

Grundy scored 11 points on 4-of-7 field-goal shooting to cushion the impact of B-Meg’s second-quarter surge, keeping Petron Blaze in the lead, 46-41, at the half.

Al-Hussaini put in four points and three rebounds coming off the bench in the second canto but didn’t last long on the court as he hurt his right knee in a freak accident.

The Boosters took the opening quarter at 23-15 before reeling a bit as the Llamados dragged them into nine lead changes in the second period.

Yap was perfect from the field, going 2-of-2 from the three-point area and 2-of-2 from the two-point zone to lead the Llamados’ second-quarter charge.

The two teams figured in a fierce shootout in the second period with the Llamados converting 73.3 percent of their shots and the Boosters hitting at a 50-percent clip.

Joshua Urbiztondo stole off Jojo Duncil and banged in a three-pointer as the Llamados had their first taste of the lead at 27-25.

Don Allado followed it up with a perimeter jumper as B-Meg stretched its lead to 29-25 before Petron regrouped and regained control with a five-point at the half.

The scores:

 First Game:

Petron 97 – Grundy 29, Santos 22, Salvacion 14, Ildefonso 14, Miranda 12, Al-Hussaini 4, Baclao 2, Duncil 0, Hubalde 0, Pennisi 0.

 B-Meg 92 – Yap J. 23, Devance 18, Pingris 16, Allen 15, Urbiztondo 10, Allado 8, Reavis 2, Gaco 0, Fernandez 0, Adducul 0.

 Quarterscores: 23-15, 46-41, 65-66, 97-92

Second Game

Alaska 95 – Forte 24, Tenorio 20, Dela Cruz 13, Reyes 12, Custodio 10, Thoss 10, Borboran 3, Cablay 3, Eman 0, Baguio 0, Dimaunahan 0.

Rain or Shine 89 – Reid 25, Tang 13, Chan 12, Buenafe 10, Rodriguez 9, Norwood 8, Belga 6, Ibanes 4, Vanlandingham 2, Jazul 0, Cruz 0.

Quarterscores: 25-18, 48-40, 64-63, 95-89