Easy win for B-meg against Alaska

Denzel Bowles is getting better. So are the B-Meg Llamados, who seem to be peaking just at the right
time.



The 6-foot-10 Lithuanian league veteran finished with 35 points, 18 rebounds and two shotblocks in
powering the Llamados to their fifth win in seven games in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the
Cuneta Astrodome Friday night.

“We’re not contented with five wins being the magic number for us to reach the playoffs, we want
to win as many games as possible and get a shot at the top two,” said B-Meg coach Tim Cone
afterwards.

“Denzel played a wonderful game tonight. He can overpower you, but he’s also quick. That’s a
unique combination. He’s coming to his own because he’s slowly starting to realize the
importance of gameplans, his teammates and he can mature right before your eyes. Hopefully, he stays
at a high level. He’s a young guy. He will go up and down a little bit because of his youth, but
he’s really locked in right now,” added Cone of his prized import.

With Bowles in charge, the rest of the Llamados were doing the things they comfortably do.

Marc Pingris concentrated on defense and rebounding. James Yap, PJ Simon and Josh Urbiztondo
provided the scoring sock, but the most important thing for B-Meg’s third straight win was its
solid team defense against Alaska.

“I thought we played better in the previous game. We played good as well tonight. For back-to-back
games, we’re playing at a high level. After playing Ginebra with a big crowd, you had a tendency
to let down. In some ways, we were fortunate that we’re playing Alaska following Ginebra,”
explained Cone.

“We know we’re going to come out tough, but they’re going to play tough as well, but we came
out with so much focus and a good defensive mindset. We were really concerned on controlling LA
(Tenorio), Cyrus (Baguio) and Bonbon (Custodio). We knew Adam Parada was going to get his points
because he’s so big and strong. He will just overpower you at the post.

“Marc and Josh hounded them. And James was amazing tonight, particularly on the defensive end.
We’re not afraid on putting him on anybody at this point. I like his concentration and his
attention to details,” he added.

Parada led the Aces with 24 points, but was outplayed by Bowles in almost all departments. Tenorio
contributed 18 markers built around four triples, but he was only 1-for-7 from the two-point region
and committed three turnovers. His 10 points also came in the fourth quarter when the Llamados were
already leading by as much as 20.

Baguio and Custodio, two players who have thrived on the Aces’ new free-flowing system, struggled
against the Llamados’ defense.

Baguio was held down to only seven points on 3-of-11 shooting while went 0-for-4 and finished with
only one point.

A crippling 23-5 second quarter run with Bowles and Urbiztondo at the forefront, enabled the
Llamados to take a 48-35 lead at the half. B-Meg even padded its lead to as high as 20, 80-60, on
Bowles’ two charities with 6:39 left in the game.

B-Meg held Alaska to just eight points in that second quarter, the lowest by any team in a quarter
this conference and the lowest for a quarter this season for the Aces. (RJ)

The scores:

B-Meg 90 - Bowles 35, Yap J. 14, Simon 13, Urbiztondo 10, Intal 8, Pingris 4, Barroca 2, Burtscher
2, De Ocampo 2, Reavis 0.

Alaska 75 - Parada 24, Tenorio 18, Thoss 11, Baracael 8, Baguio 7, Gonzales 6, Custodio 1, Salamat
0, Eman 0, Reyes 0.

Quarterscores: 25-27, 48-35, 70-56, 90-75

source:

http://www.pba.ph