Cone praises unsung Game Five heroes De Ocampo, Intal

AKTV/Paolo Papa

Heroic performances don’t necessarily reflect on the stat sheet, and B-MEG coach Tim Cone took time to praise players who helped B-MEG fashion an 82-66 win in Game Five of the Commissioner’s Cup finals.

James Yap and Denzel Bowles may have been obvious choices when picking outstanding performers for the game, as they combined for 58 of the Llamados’ 82 points, but Cone singled out two other players who helped B-MEG move one win shy of a title.

“There were two unsung heroes in this game: Yancy de Ocampo and JC Intal,” Cone said after the game.

“I thought JC jumpstarted things for us on defense. I don’t think JC scored a point, but he set the tone for us as he did a great job stopping Jared Dillinger, who played a great game in Game 4.”

Dillinger may have scored 18 points, but the vaunted Talk ‘N Text offense was a no-show in Game Five, producing just 66 points on less than 37% shooting, a result of the intense Llamados defense.

After scoring nine points in the first period, Dillinger was reduced to only a point in the second period, then was silenced to only three markers in the fourth quarter when B-Meg broke the game wide open.

De Ocampo, on the other hand, contributed eight points and was the third-highest scorer for the Llamados behind Yap’s conference-high 30 and Bowles’ 28.

The 6-foot-9 lefty center also added seven rebounds before fouling out of the game with 2:40 left in the third period.

“If Yancy could stay away from making silly fouls, he would have been unstoppable as nobody could match up with him whenever he’s playing alongside Denzel,” said Cone.

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