With both Alaska and San Miguel holding a 2-1 lead in their respective best-of-seven semifinals series, Derby Ace and Talk N Text hopes to even their series and not fall into a 3-1 deficit which is difficult to come back specially against tough opponents like the Aces and the Beermen.

The Llamados hopes to have a similar game on the 1st half of Game 3 where they controlled both ends of the floor, but must be consistent in all quarters so that they will not let San Miguel come back again at the end of the game. Last conference, Derby Ace (Purefoods TJ Giants) also had a 2-1 deficit in the semifinals and eventually won three straight games against San Miguel to enter the finals and sweep the Alaska Aces. We hope it is the same case this conference.

Let us give our all out support to our team the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados!

Derby Ace hopes to bounce back from their disappointing loss in Game 1 to San Miguel, it is a must win for the Llamados because it will be difficult to climb back from a 2-0 deficit specially against a formidable team like San Miguel. Derby Ace Import Tony Washam must make adjustments on his offense where he was limited to only 23pts on 6 out of 18 from the field. The other Derby Ace players must step up, where we can see in Game 1 that they lacked energy maybe because of the long and tiring series against Rain or Shine. San Miguel also had a couple of fast break dunks in Game 1 and which Derby Ace needs adjust and tighten their defense in Game 2.

In the other semifinals matchup, Powerhouse Talk N Text also hopes to bounce back from a humiliating loss to Alaska, 104-88.

Go B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados!

Roger Yap Stats
Derby Ace vs Rain or Shine Game 5: 14pts, 10rebs and 8asts
Derby Ace vs Rain or Shine Game 4: 13pts, 7rebs, 7asts and 1blk

Congratulations Roger Yap!

SMB defeats Alaska to gain an upperhand in the standings with a 13 win and 5 loss. A loss by Derby Ace today vs Barako Coffee will result in San Miguel getting the last automatic semifinals slot and Derby Ace will slide down to the quarterfinals but if Derby Ace wins, San Miguel and Derby Ace will have a do or die playoff match on Wednesday to determine the no. 2 spot and get the last automatic semifinals slot along with Talk N Text.

Game Today, June 27, 2010
Derby Ace Llamados vs Barako Energy Coffee Masters
6:30pm Araneta Coliseum

Derby Ace needs to beat Barako Coffee tonight to force a do or die playoff game vs San Miguel on Wednesday, June 30, with both teams having 13 wins and 5 losses if Derby Ace wins, both have a chance to gain an outright semifinals slot. Even though Barako is at the other end of the standings, Derby Ace should not take this team lightly and give their all in their last game in the elimination round.

Current Standings for the last Automatic Semifinals Slot
Derby Ace 12-5
San Miguel 12-5
Alaska 11-6

Derby Ace will be cheering for Alaska in the game today to limit San Miguel to 12 wins and if Derby Ace wins their last game vs Barako Coffee on Sunday, Derby Ace gets the last automatic Semifinals slot in the current PBA Fiesta Conference.

Scenario 1: San Miguel loss, Derby Ace win – Derby Ace goes to semifinals
Scenario 2: San Miguel win, Derby Ace loss – San Miguel goes to semifinals
Scenario 3: San Miguel win, Derby Ace win – Playoff game for automatic semifinals slot
Scenario 4: San Miguel loss/Alaska win, Derby Ace loss – 3 teams tied at 12-6 ???

With San Miguel (11-5) losing its 3rd straight game, the Derby Ace Llamados (10-5) has another chance to get 2nd place while the Alaska Aces are also catching up with a 10-6 record. The Beermen lost another game without Import Gabe Freeman and also spoiled the coaching debut of Ato Agustin. Although it is not yet confirmed if Ato Agustin will be the head coach of San Miguel in their next games, coach Siot Tanquincen was still at the sidelines for this game.

1st Game: Alaska Aces defeats Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 86-75

Game Scores:
Alaska 86 – Simpson 26, Tenorio 21, Baguio 11, Thoss 8, De Vance 6, Dela Cruz 6, Cariaso 4, Borboran 2, Hugnatan 2, Eman 0.

Rain or Shine 75 – Mercado 19, Chan 16, Lewis 10, Norwood 7, Arana 6, Tang 5, Cruz 4, Laure 4, Arellano 2, Reyes 2, Ibanes 0, Hrabak 0.

2nd Game: Coca Cola Tigers beats San Miguel Beermen, 89-86

Game Scores:
Coke 89 – Williamson 28, Taulava 15, Rizada 12, Espino 9, David 8, Macapagal 6, Gonzales 6, Cruz 3, Rodriguez 2, Allera 0, Calimag 0, Singson 0, Mendoza 0.

San Miguel 86 – Washington 19, Santos 15, Hontiveros 14, Ildefonso 10, Pena 7, Cabagnot 6, Yeo 5, Villanueva 3, Pennisi 3, Miranda 2, Seigle 2, Holper 0.

Another close game and another controversial ending for Derby Ace Llamados vs Alaska Aces in overtime, with Alaska beating Derby Ace for the 2nd time this conference 99-97 . With 2.5 seconds left in OT and Alaska leading by 1, Nino “KG” Canaleta was called for an inbound violation, where he came from the outside before getting the inbound pass, but the replay clearly shows that he already established position in the inside before getting the pass.

Even though the replay was shown many times the referees stayed with their call and Derby Ace fouled LA Tenorio who made the 1st free throw and intentionally missed the second to give Alaska the win. James Yap forced overtime earlier with a 3-point shot and contributed 22pts, 4rebs and 3asts but it was Clif Brown who led all scorers with 33 points and 11 rebounds (7 offensive).

Special mention goes to Roger Yap who had 10pts, 5rebs, 7asts and 5stls and former Alaska player Don Allado who had 11pts and 9rebs.

Game Scores:

Alaska – Simpson 29, Tenorio, 26, De Vance 13, Baguio 13, Dela Cruz 6, Thoss 5, Hugnatan 4, Cablay 3, Eman 0, Fonacier 0.

Derby Ace – Brown 34, Yap J 22, Allado 11, Yap R 10, Canaleta 7, Pingris 7, Artadi 3, Simon 3, Timberlake 9, Maierhofer 0, Salvador 0, Reavis 0.

This will be the second matchup between Derby Ace and the Aces this fiesta conference after the 2010 Philippine Cup Finals where Purefoods TJ Giants (now Derby Ace Llamados) swept Alaska to win the Championship. In their first encounter, Alaska had their revenge against Derby Ace in a close game with a last shot by Willie Miller, 83-81 but the lineups are a little different now, with Derby Ace having new Import Clif Brown and Alaska replacing Willie Miller with Cyrus Baguio.

Derby Ace will try to tie Ginebra in 3rd place with a win while Alaska is coming of a 2-game losing streak and hopes to break that streak.

James Yap will be playing in a venue named after his father-in-law, Ninoy Aquino.

Barangay Ginebra ended the 9-game winning streak of San Miguel and is now solo 3rd place in the standings overtaking Derby Ace Llamados with 8 wins and 4 losses. Former Alaska player Willie Miller led Ginebra with 26 points. Derby Ace has a chance to catch up with Ginebra with a win vs Alaska this Friday, May 28, 7:30 pm at Ninoy Aquino Stadium. This will be the second matchup between Derby Ace and the Aces after the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup where Purefoods TJ Giants (now Derby Ace Llamados) swept Alaska 4-0 in the finals, Alaska won their first match up this fiesta conference 83-81, but Derby Ace hopes to win vs Alaska this time.

In the 1st game, Air 21 Express ended their 9-game losing streak by beating Barako Energy Coffee, 99-98, both teams are now tied in last place with only 2 wins and 10 losses.

Cagayan de Oro City – After a 4-0 sweep by Purefoods TJ Giants (now called B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados) vs the Alaska Aces last PBA Philippine Cup finals, Alaska finally won over Derby Ace 83-81. It was another controversial ending for these two teams as Derby Ace Import Lorrenzo Wade was called for a foul at the end game with the referees calling a counted basket by Willie Miller with the score tied at 81 along with the foul by Wade, Miller intentionally missed the bonus free throw and Alaska won 83-81.

At the buzzer, Lorrenzo Wade tried to go after the referees but was stopped by his teammates. It was the second straight loss for Derby Ace with the opponent having no Import at the end game as Jamal Simpson fouled out with more than 2 minutes remaining. In their previous game, Coca Cola Import James Penny was sidelined at the end of the game due to bleeding from an unintentional elbow by Lorrenzo Wade but Derby Ace could not capitalize and lost for the first time this conference to the Coca Cola Tigers.

Rookie of the year candidate Rico Maierhofer led Derby Ace locals with 15 points but Best Player of the Conference James Yap was held to 10 points only. Derby Ace Llamados sorely misses their Team Captain Kerby Raymundo who is still recuperating from a knee injury,

Game scores:

Alaska 83 – Simpson 24, Miller 20, Thoss 12, Dela Cruz 10, Tenorio 9, Fonacier 5, De Vance 2, Eman 0.

Derby Ace 81 – Wade 24, Maierhofer 15, Yap J. 10, Yap R. 9, Canaleta 9, Allado 5, Artadi 4, Simon 3, Pingris 2, Reavis 0.

Quarterscores: 28-26, 40-44, 54-64, 83-81