Best Player of the Game: Marc Pingris – 17pts, 10rebs, 4asts

Gabe Freeman vs Don Allado

Tony Washam with 28pts, 8rebs and 3asts

Alex Cabagnot between defenders

Yap-Artadi combination

More pictures at the Derby Ace vs San Miguel Semifinals Gallery

*photos by gmtan

Chris Timberlake having quality minutes as PG

Gabe Freeman Dunk

Jondan Salvador sandwiched

Don Allado scoring inside and out in Game 3

More pictures at the Derby Ace vs San Miguel Semifinals Gallery

A big lead in the 1st half, a see saw battle in the final 2 quarters and a thrilling finish, just like in Game 2, but this time around it was San Miguel who played catch-up as Derby Ace erected a 17-point lead in the 2nd quarter which the Beermen cut to 12 at the half. And it was a very close game in the 4th quarter as the two teams exchanged baskets and finally Arwind Santos knocking a big three point shot with the score tied at 70-all to give San Miguel a 2-1 edge in their best-of-seven semifinals series.

In Game 2, it was San Miguel who had a big lead and Derby Ace made a run in the final quarter to tie the series. The Llamados only scored 25pts in the 2nd half as the defense of San Miguel kicked in, Tony Washam led Derby Ace with 22pts, 13rebs, 4asts and 3stls but was only 1 out of 8 from three point range. For the locals, only James Yap (17pts) and Don Allado (10pts) who scored in double digits.

A highlight of the game was a block by Olsen Racela on a buzzer beating three point shot by Nino “KG” Canaleta at the end of the 3rd quarter which pumped up the beermen and tightened their defense more in the last quarter where Derby Ace shot very poorly. The locals specially the bench players must step up in Game 4 (Wednesday, 7:30pm at Cuneta Astrodome) in order for Derby Ace to have a chance in this series.

Game scores:

San Miguel 74 – Hontiveros 17, Freeman 14, Washington 12, Santosd 8, Pena 6, Villanueva 5, Yeo 5, Cabagnot 5, Seigle 2, Racela 0, Ildefonso 0.

Derby Ace 70 – Washam 22, Yap J. 17, Allado 10, Timberlake 5, Artadi 5, Pingris 4, Canaleta 3, Maierhofer 2, Salvador 0, Yap R. 0.

Quarterscores: 14-24; 33-45; 57-58; 74-70

Derby Ace Import Tony Washam made a 3-point play with 7.9 seconds left in the game to give Derby Ace the lead 95-94 and also made a crucial steal to seal the win for the Llamados to tie their best-of-seven series vs San Miguel at 1-1. Washam was named Best player of the game with 33pts, 7rebs, 1ast and 4stls.

San Miguel led most of the game with their biggest lead at 18points, 45-27 in the 2nd quarter, but B-Meg made a couple of runs at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters to inch closer to San Miguel. James Yap led all locals with 19pts (11/13 FT) but struggled from the field, only 1 of 6 from three-point range and 2 of 7 from two-point range.

Don Allado had a great game specially in the 1st half scoring 15pts but fouled out early in the game. It’s back to square one for these two teams as they face each other again this Sunday at 4pm for Game 3.

Game Scores

Derby Ace (95) - Washam 33, Yap J. 18, Allado 15, Yap R. 9, Pingris 6, Reavis 5, Timberlake 2, Salvador 2, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Maierhofer 1, Canaleta 0.

San Miguel Beer (94) - Santos 19, Freeman 18, Washington 13, Hontiveros 9, Ildefonso 9, Villanueva 8, Cabagnot 8, Yeo 7, Seigle 3, Pena 0.

Quarterscores: 18-30, 45-57, 74-79, 95-94

Don Allado led Purefoods with 22 points and 9 rebounds, Team Captain Kerby Raymundo coming from a subpar performance last game had 21 pts and the lethal combination of James Yap and Peter Jun Simon had 19 and 17 points respectively, 5 in overtime.

Current Standing: 2-0

Box Score
Purefoods 102 – Allado 22, Raymundo 21, Yap J. 19, Simon 17, Canaleta 6, Hamilton 5, Yap R. 5, Vergara 4, Adducul 2, Villanueva 1.

Rain or Shine 94 – Norwood 14, Reyes 13, Dulay 12, Clark 12, Mercado 11, Wainwright 11, Isip 10, Arana 9, Laure 2, Andaya 0, Ibanes 0.

Quarterscores: 23-25, 45-40, 68-60, 87-87 (reg.), 102-94 (OT)