A big fourth quarter by Talk N Text led by Jason Castro moved the Tropang Texters closer to the finals with a 3-2 edge over Derby Ace and now the Llamados must win Game 6 and 7 to defend their All-Filipino crown. James Yap led B-Meg with 24 points but the current MVP could not give the team a crucial game 5 win in their best-of-seven semifinals.

Derby Ace had a great first quarter and led by 16 points, 30-14, but they could not contain TNT in the second half specially Castro and Peek as the Talk N Text bench outscored B-Meg, 68-11. Villanueva, Simon and Canaleta all scored in double figures but the big men, Gaco, Maierhofer, Salvador and Allado combined for only 7 points.

We hope that the Llamados will force Game 7 on friday at the Big Dome. In the other semifinals matchup, San Miguel defeats Ginebra in double overtime as they now lead the series 3-1.

Game Scores

Talk N Text 97 – Castro 22, Peek 16, Fonacier 13, De Ocampo 13, Reyes 10, Carey 9, Alapag 8, Dillinger 2, Aban 2, Alvarez 2, Williams 0.

Derby Ace 83 - Yap J 24, Villanueva 15, Simon 13, Canaleta 12, Pingris 8, Gaco 3, Timberlake 2, Maierhofer 2, Salvador 2, Yap R 2, Allado 0.

Quarters: 20-31, 51-48, 73-69, 97-83

Derby Ace Llamados James Yap scored a conference-high 36 points but Talk N Text Tropang Texters takes game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinals series in the current PBA Philippine Cup. TNT led by 19 in the third quarter before B-Meg came back in the final quarter cutting the lead to 3, 90-87, but Jimmy Alapag made a 4-point play off a foul from the three-point range to extend the lead of Talk N Text to 7 with 2 minutes left in the game.

Peter June Simon was held to just 14 points by the Talk N Text defense while Jonas Villanueva only had 3 points. Roger Yap did not play this game due to an injury. Only Nino “KG” Canaleta scored in double figure from the Llamados as they hope to bounce back in Game 2 which is scheduled on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Game scores

Talk N Text (98) – Alapag 20, De Ocampo 18, Williams 11, Dillinger 10, Reyes 8, Carey 8, Peek 8, Aban 7,
Castro 6, Fonacier 2.

Derby Ace (91) – J. Yap 36, Simon 14, Canaleta 11, Maierhofer 7, Timberlake 6, Pingris 6, Gaco 4,
Villanueva 3, Salvador 2, Allado 2, Adducul 0.

Conference 1: 2010-2011 Philippine Cup (All-Filipino Tourney) – starts Oct. 3
- 10 PBA teams will play 14 games each in the eliminations and top 8 teams will advance to the playoffs, eliminating the last 2 teams.
- 10 PBA teams will be divided into 2 groups, those in the same group will play each other once and twice with the teams in the other group.
- Top 2 teams (No. 1 and No. 2) will have a twice to beat advantage against No. 7 and No. 8.
- No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5 will have a best-of-three series
- Semifinals and Finals will be best-of-seven

Conference 2: Import-reinforced conferences
- Imports with the same height limitation
- Single round robin for 10 teams, only top 6 will advance to playoffs
- Top 2 will gain automatic semifinals berth
- No. 3 vs No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5 will have a best-of-five series
- Semifinals and Finals will be best-of-seven

Conference 3: Import-reinforced conferences
- Teams will have a height limitation handicapping system on Imports based on the performances of the teams in the first two conferences.
- Single round robin for 10 teams, only top 6 will advance to playoffs
- Top 6 teams will have another single round robin, records from eliminations will be carried over
- A team which wins four of five games in the second round (regardless of their overall record) gets automatic playoff crack at a finals berth.
- Semifinals and Finals will be best-of-seven

San Miguel Beermen is back in the finals after beating B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, 91-83 and ending their best of seven semifinals series 4-2. San Miguel got back at Derby Ace (Known as Purefoods Tj Giants last conference), who defeated them in the Philippine Cup semifinals, 4-2. Although San Miguel led most of the game, Derby Ace made a couple of runs in the 3rd and 4th quarters to threaten the Beermen, but uncharacteristic was James Yap (14pts, 6rebs), missing two free throws that could have cut the lead even further.

Derby Ace Import Tony Washam led the team with 30pts, 12rebs, 2asts and 2stls but was clearly bothered by San Miguel’s defense on him. Roger Yap led all locals with 15pts and also contributed 7rebs and 8asts. Derby Ace will still have its last game this Friday for 3rd place.

In the other semifinals match up, Alaska beats Talk N Text and forces a Game 7 this Wednesday.

It was a great year for Derby Ace/Purefoods, winning the All-Filipino Conference via sweep and hope they still have the heart to take 3rd place this friday vs the loser of the Alaska vs Talk N Text semifinals this Wednesday. We are proud of the team and what they have accomplished. Go B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados!

Game Scores:
San Miguel 91 – Freeman 26, Washington 18, Santos 14, Cabagnot 12, Yeo 8, Hontiveros 5, Ildefonso 5, Villanueva 3, Pena 0.

Derby Ace 83 – Washam 30, Yap. R. 15, Yap J. 14, Simon 6, Artadi 5, Pingris 5, Reavis 4, Maierhofer 2, Allado 2, Canaleta 0, Adducul 0.
Quarters: 25-16, 51-42, 71-58, 91-83

James Yap had 28 points and was 6 out of 11 from 3-point range but could not lead Derby Ace to a crucial playoff game vs San Miguel. Derby Ace Import Clif Brown who played well in the past few games was a non-factor in this game scoring only 9pts and 10rebs and could not limit San Miguel Import Gabe Freeman who scored 20 points.

Special Mention goes to Nino Canaleta who had a solid performance with 16pts,7rebs and Rafi Reavis with 10pts, 8rebs, 2blks.

San Miguel now enters the semifinals automatically with Talk N Text while Derby Ace will face the winner of the wild card phase in the best of 5 quarterfinals series. In the other game, Ginebra routs Rain or Shine and enters the quarterfinals and the Elasto Painters moves down to the Wild Card Phase with Coca Cola, Sta Lucia and Air 21.

Game scores:

San Miguel 88 – Hontiveros 21, Freeman 20, Washington 19, Cabagnot 14, Santos 6, Seigle 5, Yeo 3, Villanueva 0, Miranda 0, Racela 0, Ildefonso 0, Pena 0.

B-Meg Derby Ace 83 – Yap J. 28, Canaleta 16, Reavis 10, Brown 9, Maierhofer 6, Yap R. 6, Pingris 4, Simon 2, Allado 2, Artadi 0.

Quarters: 23-13, 42-31, 61-58, 88-83

James Yap had his best game in this 7 game semifinal series scoring 24 points and 4 rebounds in leading Purefoods to a win vs San Miguel to tie the series 2-2. Roger Yap almost had a triple double with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, while Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis had 25 rebounds combined.

Purefoods led by as much as 22 points but San Miguel came back in the 2nd half to trim the lead to 3, 74-71, but James Yap waxed hot and made his free throws in the 4th quarter (13 out of 16 overall) to stop the run of San Miguel. With the series now tied at 2-2, it is now only a best of 3 series with the winner of the next game having a step ahead for the PBA finals.

Game Scores:

Purefoods 97 – Yap J 24, Pingris 15, Yap R 15, Raymundo 13, Reavis 12, Maierhofer 8, Simon 5, Artadi 4, Adducul 1, Allado 0.

San Miguel 84 – Ildefonso 17, Washington 14, Villanueva 13, Santos 11, Hontiveros 10, Custodio 6, Miranda 6, Pena 4, Pennissi 3, Holper 0, Cortez 0, Racela 0.

James Yap leads Purefoods back to the semifinals by beating Rain or Shine 95-85 in the Do or Die Game 5 at the Araneta Coliseum. Yap contributed 28 points on 11/22 from the field including some acrobatic shots that tore down the defense of the Elasto Painters. Solomon Mercado came up with 23 points but could not lead Rain or Shine to a win. Marc Pingris had a monster game with 14 points and 16 rebounds leading Purefoods in rebounding 48-37.

The Best of 7 semifinals between Purefoods and San Miguel will start on Wednesday.

In the other series, Talk N Text played Game 5 after a walkout in Game 4 but bowed down to Barangay Ginebra. Ginebra will play Alaska Aces in the other best of 7 semifinal match up.

Game scores:

Purefoods 95 – Yap J. 28, Raymundo 16, Yap R. 16, Pingris 14, Reavis 9, Maierhofer 4, Allado 4, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Canaleta 0.

Rain or Shine 85 – Mercado 23, Norwood 20, Reyes 9, Chan 8, Arana 7, Cruz 6, Laure 6, Telan 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Hrabak 0.

Quarters: 25-26, 50-47, 80-66, 95-85.