Two games.

Three points separating the four teams.

The PBA fans were treated to two high quality semi-finals match-ups last Wednesday as the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados escaped with a one point victory over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters while the San Miguel Beermen relied on Alex Cabagnot anew to get them another victory over the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

The Llamados built an early lead in the first game of the double-header. Peter June Simon, who has been playing terrific basketball as of late, led the attack for the Llamados in the second quarter where they outscored the Tropang Texters by 13 points.

B-Meg stretched their lead to 15 but the Tropang Texters managed to claw back and have a chance to win in all in the end. KG Canaleta missed two ill-advised threes in the dying minutes which gave the Tropang Texters the chance to cut the lead to two. James Yap was fouled but he was only to convert on one of the free-throws. Talk ‘N Text called a timeout and they drew up and executed a perfect play wherein Ranidel de Ocampo made a perfect pass to Kelly Williams for an easy alley-oop slam.

Simon, who top-scored for Derby Ace with 28 points, missed on a three from the top of the key and Larry Fonacier launched a forward pass to Ryan Reyes which was a tad too strong. Reyes was able to chase it down and he passed the ball to Jimmy Alapag, who then drove strong to the basket. Alapag dished off a pass but Yap was there to steal the ball and the win for the Llamados.

Immediately after time expired, Coach Chot Reyes ran to the court telling his players that they should have called a timeout. The final score was 88 to 87.

The Llamados were very lucky to win this one. They had absolutely no end-game poise as they just let their lead slip away with turnovers and ill-advised shots. Luckily for them, the Tropang Texters weren’t able to set up a play for their last possession.

In the second game, Alex Cabagnot proved that he is the best closer in the league as his basket over the outstretched arms of Rudy Hatfield won the game for them.

The Beermen led by as much as 14 points in the fourth but the Barangay Ginebra Kings erased the lead and were even able to put up a two point lead with less than a minute remaining. Cabagnot tied the game with a jumper.

Ginebra called a time-out but Hatfield and Mark Caguioa combined for a turnover that gave Cabagnot the chance to play the hero’s role again.

These were two high-quality games from the best four teams in the league. It was but fitting that both were decided only in the dying seconds of the game. The Tropang Texters could have given themselves a better chance of winning if only they called for time and the Kings could have gotten the lead if not for that crucial turnover in the end-game.

Judging by the quality of the games, this year’s All-Filipino tournament semis are one for the history books. Be sure to catch the games on Friday. News just got out that there are only a few tickets left for sale so if you can’t watch the game in the venue, keep it locked on SOLARtv for the exciting semi-finals match-ups.