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| Nick Fazekas justified his stay with the Blazers by pumping in 45 points against the Express. |
*Unless otherwise specified, all images are by Paolo Papa/InterAKTV.com
PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS over AIR21 EXPRESS, 102-88
Petron Blaze should give itself a pat on the back for not pushing through with the decision to replace Nick Fazekas. Fazekas scored a season-high 45 points to go with 22 rebounds in winning his matchup against Marcus Douthit and powering Petron Blaze past Air21.
Fazekas' production was highlighted by several scoring sprees, the most crucial coming in the fourth period that enabled the Boosters to withstand the absence of a couple of injured teammates and fully quash the Express' final threat.
Not bad for someone whom coach Ato Agustin and management thought of replacing after they lost their first two games in the mid-season tourney.
Douthit, the former Smart-Gilas reinforcement, did not fare badly either with 23 points, as many boards as Fazekas' and 6 assists. He, however, made only eight of 27 field attempts and had a shot swatted away by Fazekas and Arwind Santos.
Alex Cabagnot came off the bench to finish with 13 points and a game-high nine assists while Santos had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
PBB 102 - Fazekas 45, Cabagnot 13, Santos 12, Miranda 12, Ildefonso 7, Agustin 6, Yeo 3, Doruelo 2, Tugade 2, Reyes 0.
A21 88 - Douthit 23, Duncil 18, Jazul 12, Ritualo 12, Isip 10, Omolon 6, Sison 4, Sena 2, Hubalde 1, Escobal 0, Aquino 0.
QS: 22-27, 48-39, 72-69, 102-88
TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS over B-MEG LLAMADOS, 102-96
Sans an import and their head coach, the Talk n Text Tropang Texters defied tremendous odds, jolting the B-Meg Llamados to stay unbeaten in the 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. The Texters used a remarkable 19-of-41 three-point shooting to make up for their lack of inside presence as they overcame Denzel Bowles and the Llamados for their third straight win in the mid-season tourney.
Jayson Castro shone with six triples and a total of 22 points while Ranidel de Ocampo sparkled with five treys and a total of 19 markers. Kelly Williams, Larry Fonacier, Jared Dillinger, Jimmy Alapag and Riego Gamalinda combined for eight three-pointers for the Texters who led by as many as 16 though playing with an all Filipino crew. It helped that the Texters limited Yap and Simon to five and three points, respectively.
The Texters were left without an import with Omar Samhan suffering a torn ACL in their last game against Alaska. Samhan has undergone a surgery to repair his injury before flying back to the US.
Bowles delivered 38 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter but the Texters stood their ground, having their answers each time the Llamados drew close.
TNT 102 - Castro 22, De Ocampo 19, Williams 17, Fonacier 11, Dillinger 8, Alapag 8, Carey 6, Peek 6, Gamalinda 3, Reyes 2.
BML 96 - Bowles 38, Devance 19, Pingris 8, Barroca 7, Intal 6, Yap J. 5, Urbiztondo 4, Yap R. 4, Simon 3, Reavis 2.
QS: 28-20, 61-49, 84-74, 102-96
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| Jimmy Alapag and the rest of the Texters waxed hot from long range to derail the Llamados. |
ALASKA ACES over MERALCO BOLTS, 98-90
Alaska didn’t hesitate when it was allowed by Meralco to get open looks at the basket during the opening period. As it turned out, the Aces obtained a good rhythm the Bolts would never overcome. Alaska then bludgeoned the struggling Bolts, keeping its shot at a return trip to the playoffs.
The Aces scored 23 of the game’s first 29 points, led by as large as 25, before thwarting every comeback attempt by the Bolts to secure their third win in five games and notch a confidence-boosting victory after suffering a 110-98 defeat at the hands of defending champion Talk ‘N Text last Feb. 26.
Adam Parada collected 25 points and 14 rebounds, LA Tenorio contributed 19 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds while Cyrus Baguio ignored the pains of a bad fall during practice three days back to score 18 points. Rookie Eric Salamat, meanwhile, came off the bench to add 10 points.
Sol Mercado and Earl Barron each tallied 26 points for Meralco, which suffered its fourth defeat in five games. The Bolts, who dropped their third game in a row, were pulled further down at the standings, putting their chances of advancing to the playoffs in danger.
A big disappointment for Meralco for the night was Gabby Espinas and Reynel Hugnatan, two veteran players who were held scoreless.
ALA 98 - Parada 25, Tenorio 19, Baguio 18, Salamat 10, Thoss 8, Baracael 7, Custodio 7, Eman 2, Gelig 2, Reyes 0.
MB 90 - Mercado 26, Barron 26, Cardona 19, Ross 6, Taulava 6, Borboran 4, Timberlake 3, Ballesteros 0, Yee 0, Espinas 0, Artadi 0, Hugnatan 0.
QS: 27-14, 49-31, 71-57, 98-90.
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| LA Tenorio flashes a smile as the Aces upend the Meralco Bolts. |
BARAKO BULL ENERGY over POWERADE TIGERS, 101-91
Rodney White got a passing grade in his initial game as a Barako Bull import, helping the Energy get back on track with a win over the Powerade Tigers.
White debuted with 29 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals with Willie Miller, Don Allado and Ronald Tubig providing big help as Barako checked a three-game slump and improved a rung up to seventh place in the team standings with a 2-3 record.
Miller put in 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal against two turnovers in a sterling 37-minute job. Allado contributed double-double numbers with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Tubid added 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals as Barako dealt Powerade its first loss in three starts in the mid-season tourney.
Powerade’s Dwayne Johnson also had solid numbers with 19 points and 18 rebounds but the Tigers struggled with 34-percent shooting. Gary David made only 1-of-9 three-point attempts. He knocked in 14 charities to pace the Tigers with 25 points. JV Casio and Marcio Lassiter combined for 32 points.
BBE 101 - White 29, Miller 24, Allado 15, Tubid 13, Aquino 6, Najorda 6, Pennisi 3, Arboleda 3, Pena 2, Lanete 0.
POW 91 - David 25, Jones 19, Casio 17, Lassiter 15, Anthony 9, Kramer 4, Cruz 2, Lingganay 0, Vanlandingham 0, Allera 0, Calimag 0, Adducul 0, Crisano 0.
QS: 24-25, 46-35, 78-64, 101-91
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| Willie Miller played big as the Energy surprised the Tigers. |
B-MEG LLAMADOS over AIR21 EXPRESS, 88-79
B-Meg needed a strong finishing kick to repulse the challenge of Air 21, and end a two-game slide at the Tacloban Convention Center. The Llamados used a 16-8 spurt in the first eight minutes of the fourth period to break away from a tight contest and improve their win-loss mark to 3-2 while handing the Express their second straight loss to slip to 1-2.
Denzel Bowles led B-MEG with 27 points while James Yap and Mark Barroca each had 12 points for the Llamados.
Marcus Douthit led Air 21 with 22 points, but was a non-factor in the final quarter where the Llamados pull away.
After Ren-Ren Ritualo banged in a triple to trim the lead to 64-62, Yancy de Ocampo and Joe Devance joined forces in leading a decisive 16-8 exchange that allowed the Llamados erect an 80-67 spread with less than four minutes remaining. Air 21 never had a serious run since.
BML 88 – Bowles 27, J. Yap 12, Barroca 12, Simon 11, Devance 9, de Ocampo7, Pingris 4, Urbiztondo 3, Reavis 3, Intal 0
Air 21 79 – Douthit 22, Ritualo 16, Duncil 12, Jazul 7, Isip 6, Omolon 5, Hubalde 3, Aquino 2, Sison 2, Escobal 2, Sena 2, Faundo 0
QS: 21-19 37-38 64-59 88-79
*This recap is from InterAKTV.com
BGY. GINEBRA KINGS over POWERADE TIGERS, 105-96
Jackson Vroman made an immediate impact in his debut, but Mark Caguioa proved he was still Barangay Ginebra's main go-to guy. Vroman notched 19 points and 12 rebounds in his league debut, but Caguioa detonated the biggest explosions by scoring a game-high 31 points to lead the Kings to a victory over Powerade.
Caguioa was at the forefront of Ginebra's second half charge with 24 points and got plenty of help from the other locals in the team’s rise to second spot with its third victory in four games.
All the while, Vroman was efficiently doing his job as he added 5 blocked shots, 4 assists, and 3 steals to justify management's decision to take him in as replacement for former Best Import awardee Chris Alexander.
The surprise rebounding leader among the locals in the conference prior to the game, Caguioa typified that most by adding 8 rebounds and making 13 of 22 shots, including 3 of 6 three-point tries as he had his most points in a game since he had 33 in a 99-79 win over B-Meg in the 2011 Governors Cup semifinals.
Gary David wound up with 23 points to lead Powerade and Marcio Lassiter, Jayvee Casio, Dwayne Jones and Doug Kramer each had at least 10 points, but the Tigers still dropped their second straight game and to an even 2-2 slate.
BGK 105 - Caguioa 31, Vroman 19, Cortez 15, Ababou 10, Hatfield 7, Villanueva 6, Wilson J. 5, Helterbrand 5, Raymundo 5, Mamaril 2, Labagala 0.
POW 96 - David 23, Lassiter 19, Casio 18, Jones 13, Kramer 10, Vanlandingham 6, Anthony 5, Lingganay 2, Calimag 0, Adducul 0, Crisano 0
QS: 29-22, 49-48, 80-66, 105-96
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| Mark "The Spark" Caguioa unloaded 31 markers as the Kings handed the Tigers another defeat. (image by Pranz Kaeno Billones/InterAKTV.com) |
PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS over RAIN OR SHINE ELASTO-PAINTERS, 110-103
Arwind Santos came out of his shell, exploding for a career-best 34 points that went
with 13 rebounds as Petron Blaze stayed on a roll, topping Rain or Shine to gain a piece of third place. Averaging a measly 8.0 points before this game, Santos set a new career-high as he knocked in five triples, eight twinners and three charities.
Nick Fazekas contributed 22 points and 17 rebounds, Alex Cabagnot chipped in 24 points and 9 assists, and Joseph Yeo added 15 markers, 7 boards and 6 feeds as the Boosters roared to a third straight win and caught up with the Alaska Aces and the B-Meg Llamados at 3-2.
Santos, Fazekas, Cabagnot and Yeo responded big time as they negated Duke Crews’s personal tournament best of 41 points. Crews was the first import to outscore Fazekas in a game. The efficient Petron import, however, delivered when needed the most, thus, having the final laugh in his showdown with his RoS rival.
PBB 110 - Santos 34, Cabagnot 24, Fazekas 22, Yeo 15, Ildefonso 7, Agustin 2, Reyes 2, Miranda 2, Tugade 2, Miranda 0.
ROS 103 - Crews 41, Buenafe 11, Chan 10, Quinahan 10, Lee 9, Norwood 8, Belga 4, Crews 3, Arana 3, Uyloan 2, Tang 2, Matias 0, Jaime 0, Ibanes 0.
QS: 33-26, 57-51, 91-77, 110-103
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| Arwind Santos finally had his breakout game, scoring 34 against the Painters. (image by Pranz Kaeno Billones/InterAKTV.com) |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and compiled from PBA.ph
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