Simon explodes for 42 as Llamados strikes anew

Known as the Philippine Basketball Association’s super sub, Peter June Simon is now beginning to build a reputation as the league’s new scoring machine. The former Mr. Quality Minutes awardee exploded for a career-high 42 points in powering the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados to an inspiring 102-97 victory over the Air21 Express in the Philippine Cup Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum. Simon went perfect from the two-point area, making 11-of-11 shots. Overall, he shot 14-for-18 from the field in a performance that helped give the defending champion Llamados their first back-to-back triumphs. “’Nakuha ko yung mga shots na gusto ko today kaya nag-take-advantage ako at medyo magandang shooting ko. Yung tiwala ng coaching staff sa akin, malaking bagay, kaya ganitong laro ko,’’ said Simon, who normally comes off the bench to spell two-time Most Valuable Player and B-Meg’s top gunner James Yap. But under new coach Jorge Gallent, Simon was inserted into the starting unit, so that he and Yap provided a double-barreled threat. The 6-foot-1 spitfire scored 11 points in the first period to help B-Meg Derby Ace rally from an 11-point deficit and eventually the lead at the half, 48-46. But Simon wasn’t through with his explosive show. He dropped 23 points as the Llamados seized control in the third canto. With Simon on fire, B-Meg unleashed a 10-0 blast midway in the third to grab a 65-55 spread, a lead it never relinquished. The win enabled the Llamados to improve its record to 3-5 and forge a tie with its victim as well as the idle Meralco Bolts in seventh to ninth places. Yap added 16 points along with three rebounds and four assists. Rico Maierhoffer had 15 rebounds and nine points while Roger Yap dished out 10 assists to go along with nine points. Highly-touted rookie Rabeh Al-Hussaini also had a career-high of 25 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Express. Ronjay Buenafe had 14 and Wesley Gonzales and Wynne Arboleda contributed 12 apiece. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV