We’re not ready to give up our trophy, says Derby Ace coach

Jorge Gallent, the rookie coach of the defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, is sounding more like a veteran mentor ready to wage war. The many-time champion in the Philippine Basketball League rallied his team with a motivational statement after their pulsating 88-87 victory over the Talk N Text Tropang Texters in Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at the Big Dome Wednesday night. “I told my team that we’re the defending champions and we’re not just going to give our trophies to anyone. They have to grab it from us," said Gallent. A six-time champion coach in the amateur ranks, Gallent helped Harbour Centre in establishing a league dynasty. Against the tried and tested PBA champion coach Chot Reyes, Gallent was able to hold his own, even leading his limping Llamados squad to victory in a game that they nearly lost. Playing without two main frontliners, Kerby Raymundo and Raffi Reavis, a hurting forward in Rico Maierhofer and a sick superstar in James Yap, the Llamados were able to dictate the tempo of the game in Game Two. The Llamados even led, 52-37, before the Tropang Texters rallied in the fourth and set up an exciting windup. In the endgame, Derby Ace counted once again on Yap, this time for his defense. Struggling offensively, Yap came through with a crucial stop — intercepting a Jimmy Alapag pass to Ryan Reyes in the closing seconds of the match — allowing Derby Ace to escape with the win to leveled the best-of-seven series at 1-1 apiece. With the series reduced into a best-of-five affair, Gallent sees the playoff going the distance. “The longer the series, the better for us," said Galent. “That’s what we intend to do." “It’s really nice to win Game Two because we will have a difficult time winning the series if we fell to 0-2," he added. Talk N Text coach Chot Reyes couldn’t hide his disappointment after losing Game Two. He mentioned a crucial stretch where his players didn’t make the right decision — calling a timeout in the last 10 seconds to allow them to map up a final play. “If we can't manage to call a timeout or get a decent shot with 10 seconds left with five top-caliber players on the floor, then we don't deserve to win," said Reyes in his Twitter account. - KY, GMANews.TV