PBA: San Mig survives Alaska as Baguio misses game-winner

Luigi Trillo's Alaska Aces just can't seem to score a victory over Tim Cone San Mig Coffee Mixers. The game was a lot closer than their first meeting, but it was again San Mig Coffee which came out on top with an exciting 84-83 victory Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Denzel Bowles came up big with 30 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Mixers but it was the inspired play of Mark Barroca and Marc Pingris that spelled the difference for the Mixers. Barroca scattered eight points while Pingris scored all of his seven points in the payoff period to help the Mixers get the win and climb back to .500 The Aces fought back from 10 points down thanks largely to Calvin Abueva's exploits. Down by just a single point with Abueva on the free throw line, the Aces had a golden opportunity to win the ball game. However, Abueva's first free throw rimmed out. Confusion marred the second free throw as four players committed lane violations. The referee called double lane violations that led to a jump ball while Abueva's free throw went in. The free throw would have tied the game but it was waived off. The Aces won the jump ball but Cyrus Baguio's potential game-winner attempt rimmed off to the delight of the San Mig crowd. "I thought that shot by Cyrus was going in," said Cone after the game. "I thought that was the game winner." "Both teams are desperate right now because Alaska wants to stay on top of the standings while we just want to get as many wins as we can," Cone added. San Mig Coffee evened their record at 5-5, while despite the loss, Alaska stayed strong at the top of the standings with a  7-3 card, a half game ahead of the Petron Blaze Boosters and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. The first quarter ended with a 21-all tie. Denzel Bowles had a field day against Alaska's defense as he scored 13 points in the game's first 12 minutes. Alaska on the other hand was anchored on a balanced attack led by Robert Dozier, Calvin Abueva, and Tony Dela Cruz, who combined for 15 points. In the second quarter, PJ Simon and Yancy De Ocampo stepped up for the Mixers, scattering a combined 11 points. Their efforts gave the Mixers a 39-36 advantage at the half. The Aces wasted no time in tying up the game early in the third quarter. Calvin Abueva completed a three-point play at the 10:55 mark of the third to knot the game at 39-all. He gave Alaska the lead 25 seconds later with a lay-up. PJ Simon went on a tear moments later as he scored six straight points to hand San Mig a 48-43 lead. A bunch of free throws kept the Aces in the game. Even if they weren't getting field goals, they kept the game close as they took advantage of San Mig's fouls. The Aces sliced the lead down to a single point but Bowles converted with a one-hander to give the Mixers some breathing room. This was quickly followed by a fast break lay-in from Rafi Reavis and an and-one play from Mark Barroca to build a 61-53 lead before Cyrus Baguio converted on a free throw. RJ Jazul single-handedly brought Alaska back in the game with back-to-back threes to cut San Mig's lead down to one at 61-60. A put-back by Abueva gave the Aces a 62-61 lead at the 9:28 mark of the fourth. After a Bowles free throw knotted the game at 62, Jazul sank another three but this time the Mixers had a reply as Barroca made his own trey to tie the game anew at 65-all. James Yap made his first basket of the second half with an off-balanced hook shot and Barroca followed it up with a jumper at the 7:32 mark to give the Mixers a 69-65 advantage. Barroca and Jazul again exchanged triples with a little under six minutes in the game. A Pingris basket and two free throws from Bowles then handed the Mixers a 77-68 lead. After a Baguio lay-up, Pingris scored on a put-back plus a foul on Abueva for an 80-70 San Mig lead, but Jazul kept the Aces within striking distance with yet another three ball. Abueva then sank two free throws with only 3:04 left in the game to slice the San Mig lead down to five. The Mixers had multiple attempts to stretch the lead but Barroca missed a wide-open three while Yap's lay-up rimmed out. Dozier made the Mixers pays with a jump hook at the 2:15 mark to further trim the lead to three at 80-77. "What was nice to see tonight was Mark Barroca stepping up in the fourth quarter," Cone said. "Our point guard play has not been stellar this conference. We gave the reigns to Mark and Alex [and] neither of them is experienced. We have to live with the growing pains. I thought Mark took a big step in the good direction today." Barroca chipped in 16 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals but his stellar defense and steady shooting in the fourth was the difference in the game. The Mixers were still without forward Joe Devance who's still out from a strained MCL. "We're mixing and matching without Joe out there," Cone said. "Our struggles show just how important he was to us." Abueva had a monster game with 27 points and 11 rebounds. His performance against Pingris was undoubtedly one of the main reasons why Alaska was in the game until the final buzzer. In their first meeting Abueva was thrown off his rhythm by Pingris, but this time he almost carried his team to victory. RJ Jazul also had a career game as he scored 19 points, 15 of which were from three-point shots in the fourth quarter. Alaska's import Robert Dozier had 15 points and 20 rebounds but he  was only able to score three points in the second half, which hurt his team's chances. The Aces also missed the services of Jvee Casio who was dressed to play but wasn't fielded in. The Mixers will resume their campaign on Easter Sunday against the Barako Bull Energy Cola. "We struggled early in the game and we came back and that's what we want to see," Cone said. "All of our remaining games are now must-win for us." - AMD, GMA News