Meg Derby Ace Llamados advanced to the semifinals of the 2010-2011 PBA Philippine Cup, completing a two-game playoff sweep of the Meralco Bolts, 92-88, Wednesday night in Game 2 of their quarterfinals series at the Araneta Coliseum. Peter June Simon scored 23 points, 16 of them in the first half, to lead the Llamados to a second straight win against the hard-fighting Bolts who razed a 21-point Derby Ace only to falter in the homestretch. Derby Ace thus arranged a best-of-seven semifinals series against the top seeded Talk N Text Tropang Texters. Game 1 of that series is set for Sunday. Macmac Cardona led all scorers, drilling 20 of his 26 points in the final half. In the other quarterfinals series, the Barangay Ginebra Kings forged a deciding Game 3, demolishing the Alaska Aces, 94-76. Rudy Hatfield stepped up big-time in the absence of injured starting center Erik Menk, barely missing a triple double as he scored 16 points, hauled down 14 rebounds and issued seven assists as the Kings levelled their quarterfinals match against the Aces at 1-1 after losing Game 1, 104-101, last Friday. Veteran shooting guard Mark Caguioa actually topscored for Ginebra with 20 points coming off the bench. Willie Miller chipped in 16 points while Mike Cortez added 13. Game 3 of the series is set for Saturday, with the winner advancing to the best-of-seven semifinals against the San Miguel Beermen. The Kings showed grim determination to extend the series to a deciding Game 3 despite missing the services of Menk (suffering from strained Achilles tendon) and Jayjay Helterbrand (strain at back of knee) as they relentlessly attacked Alaska's interior while clogging up the Aces' offense. The Kings overwhelmed the Aces in all departments. Ginebra outrebounded Alaska, 49-46, had a whopping 29-19 edge on assists and a 14-4 lead in fastbreak points. The Kings also shot 43.4 percent from the field in contrast to Alaska's miserable 38.2 clip. Sonny Thoss led Alaska with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Cyrus Baguio had 11 markers. Joe Devance, who scored a career-high 30 points to spark Alaska's win against the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados in the opener, managed just seven points on 3 of 9 shooting, the first time he failed to finish in double figures in scoring this conference.
