For someone who was supposed to be sitting out the second half, Marcus Blakely sure knew how to make coach Tim Cone not recall him to the bench.
The B-Meg import, who complained of an aching back at halftime, came out for the third quarter with all guns on rapid fire, shooting 17 of his 29 points in the period to carry the Llamados to a 95-90 victory over Barako Bull in the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday night.
“We were ready to play all-Filipino (in the second half),” Cone told reporters after also getting 15 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks from his prized reinforcement.
“But we knew that Marcus is a warrior and that he will play through anything,” added the multi-titled mentor. “I was surprised that he came back in and that his energy rubbed off on everyone (in the team).” Former two-time MVP James Yap scored 15 and another surprise package for Cone was Marc Pingris, who came back from a two-game layoff still with a broken finger but was good for 11 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes.
With the duo lording it underneath, the Llamados, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup champions who rose to 2-1 with their second straight win, utterly dominated the battle off the boards, 60-36.
“We kind of expected that with such hardworkers as Marcus and Ping,” Cone said.
The loss was the second straight for the Energy, who got 29 points from another former two-time MVP in Willie Miller but practically nothing from young import Jamine Peterson.
From a 42-41 count at halftime, the Llamados opened up the third with six straight points and scooted away to a 70-56 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Miller hit three of his five triples in the fourth and managed to take the final score to what it was, but the five-point margin of victory didn’t indicate how dominant the Llamados were in the game.
Peterson was nowhere to be found when Blakely was doing all the damage in the third period as he became more of a liability for the Energy, who lost Danny Seigle in the third period after taking an accidental knee from Blakely.
Peterson, who was impressive in his first game when he shot 33 points that went with 22 rebounds, might have signed his walking papers with a four-point, 10-rebound performance. He was so out of tune that coach Junnel Baculi kept him on the bench for majority of the second half.
And while Peterson’s performance has continued to spiral down, Powerade unveiled a gem of an all-around talent in Omar Sneed, who helped the Tigers break into the win column with a 114-97 thumping of Alaska in the first game.
Sneed, a 35-year-old veteran of three teams in the Euro League, scored 13 points, had 11 assists and missed a triple double by just one rebound as the Tigers seemed to have succeeded in addressing a problem created by Rashad McCants.
McCants, who started the tournament as the most credentialed import in the lot, couldn’t carry the Tigers out of the rut and was sent home after Powerade lost a second consecutive game last Sunday.
And with the arrival of Sneed and considering how he played, Powerade superstar Gary David is all smiles.
“We’re happy with the move of coach (Bo Perasol) to replace our (original) import,” David, who scored 31 points, told reporters after the game in Filipino. “He’s a winner and we’re happy.” With the win, the Tigers tied Alaska at 1-2 as the Aces never got it going, especially after starting point guard LA Tenorio struggled big time. The 5-foot-8 perennial Mythical Team member scored just four points and had four errors in 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra and Meralco, squads coming off losses the last time out, battle in an out-of-town game slated in Lapu-Lapu City on Saturday with the winner climbing out of .500 and rising to the upper half of the standings.
B-Meg trips Barako Bull for second straight win
