Peter June Simon scored 25 points highlighted by some of the most crucial baskets that led to a 94-86 victory by the defending champion Llamados over Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“What can I say,” Derby Ace coach Jorge Gallent said, minutes after getting another outstanding offensive performance from the league’s perennial sixth man as the Llamados climbed to .500 for the first time after rising to 5-5.
And even though the Llamados are in one of the longest runs in the season-opening tournament, Gallent said that he is not entertaining any false hopes of contending for top ranking in this round, saying the opportunity already passed them after a slow start.
“Even during the start of the season, our target was just to be in the middle of the pack,” Gallent said. “Those teams at the top (San Miguel, Talk ’N Text and Barangay Ginebra) are way out of our reach already.
“We’ll just try to stay in the middle of the pack and play our hearts out in the playoffs.” Simon scored 10 points in the fourth period, eight of them coming in succession as he ushered the Llamados to an 86-82 lead they never lost before Jonas Villanueva came up with his own offensive brilliance to seal the outcome for Derby Ace.
Villanueva, acquired in the off-season from powerhouse sister team San Miguel, hit a triple and a high-arching layup in less than a minute that had the Llamados taking a 91-83 lead going into the final 1:07.
And that was all he wrote for Rain or Shine, which played without Solomon Mercado, as the Elasto Painters dropped to 4-5 with their first loss in three games.
Mercado, the team’s leading scorer, is playing for the Philippine Team in the on-going Asian Games in Guangzhou, China and will miss another game for the Painters scheduled next week.
Villanueva finished with 17 points, reigning MVP James Yap chipped in with 15 and energetic sophomore Rico Maierhofer contributed 12 points and 12 boards for the Llamados, who continued to play without its three best big men in Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis and Kerby Raymundo.
Pingris, though, arrived in the country two days ago after getting treatment for a hip injury in the United States and could be back in action in two weeks, giving Derby Ace some help in the middle.
Jay-R Reyes scored 15 points and led the Painters, who got just 12 points and five rebounds from former Rookie of the Year Gabriel Norwood. No other player scored in twin digits for Rain or Shine.
In the first game, Air21 snapped a three-game losing streak after getting a similarly hot fourth quarter from Ronjay Buenafe in a 98-94 overtime victory over the Powerade Tigers.
Buenafe also had his own eight-point cluster in the payoff frame and the win-clinching free throws in the final 12.6 seconds as the Express improved to 4-6.
The loss was the fourth straight in a 3-7 card for the Tigers despite getting 36 points from scoring machine Gary David.
Air21 trailed, 80-87 after a David layup with 2:20 left before Buenafe caught fire, scoring on a layup and then two straight triples before overtime was forged at 90 by Leo Najorda, who scored on a bank shot with 25.2 seconds left.
The Express pounded out the win even after rookie sensation Rabeh Al-Hussaini limped off the floor with a good four minutes left because of a twisted left ankle.
The former Ateneo ace and winner of two UAAP MVP trophies still went on to finish with 22 points and eight rebounds. Buenafe wound up with 14.
