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PBA: San Mig Coffee Mixers cut off Meralco Bolts, advance to semis


James Yap (white) tries to shake off the defense of Meralco Bolt Chris Ross. Yap had to play injured, but had a productive night of 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting. KC Cruz
(Updated 9:57pm) The San Mig Coffee Mixers finally flashed the form that won them the Commissioner's Cup championship last season, playing choking defense in the fourth quarter, as they allowed the Meralco Bolts just seven points in the period, en route to a 90-82 victory Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and a trip to the semifinals against the Alaska Aces. The fifth-seeded Bolts had stunned the fourth-ranked Mixers 88-85, Friday, but San Mig Coffee leaned on big games by Denzel Bowles and Alex Mallari to forge a deadlock in the best-of-three series on Sunday, 100-92. In this game, it was once again about Bowles, as the reigning Best Import of the Conference led the Mixers with 23 points in 37 minutes of action. However, there were a lot of players who stepped up for San Mig, in addition to their superstar import. 'Big Game' James Yap finally broke out of his slump and played through a bad back to contribute 20 points in the game. Marc Pingris scored eight points in the final quarter while stopping Meralco import Eric Dawson and Mac Cardona from scoring. Mark Barroca played tenacious defense all game long and even managed to tie up Dawson for two jump balls in the fourth quarter. "It seems like they got a little tired at the end," said a relieved SMC head coach Tim Cone. "When Denzel went out with the hit, it was a blessing in disguise for us because he got six or seven minutes of unnatural rest. We knew that they were going to play [Eric] Dawson on Denzel all the time so we played Denzel the entire second half." Forcing Meralco to play Dawson along with Bowles tired out the Meralco import according to Cone. "It came down to the last six or eight possessions of the ball game where we were able to make shots," Cone added. In fact, the Bolts were scoreless in the game's final eight minutes, producing a 0-for-11 clip during that stretch, along with six turnovers.
Denzel Bowles (21) is challenged by Cliff Hodge under the rim. KC Cruz
Most of that was due to the defense Pingris played but according to the San Mig Coffee head coach, this was really not part of their plan. "I hate to say this now but Ping actually defied me," admitted Cone. "He was only supposed to guard Dawson for one possession. I gave him the worst look I could give him but he did it anyway. It was a really good coaching decision by Marc Pingris." The tireless forward scored 8 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the entire Meralco team in that stretch. Yap also played an important role in the game although he had to be yanked out of the game in the fourth quarter. "I took him out of the game because James had a tough time chasing [Ronjay] Buenafe and [Sunday] Salvacion off screens," Cone said. "Dalawang araw kong tinrabaho ito," said Yap. "Naisip ko na wala nang bukas kaya sabi ko bahala na. Pag tumatagal ako sa court, naninigas yung likod ko. Sabi ni coach na everytime na ilalabas ako, dun ako sa dulo para mag hot compress para ma-loosen yung tightness." Yap played 30 minutes in the game and scored on an efficient 9-of-17 rate from the field. "Ako naman handa lang naman ako eh. Hayaan ko lang si coach na dumiskarte," Yap said. "Gusto kong ipakita sa teammates ko na lalaban lang ako. Lahat ng gamot na pampawala ng sakit nainom ko na ata." Three outside shots opened the do-or-die game. Sunday Salvacio drained a triple but Denzel Bowles and Mark Barroca combined for five points in reply. Bowls then found James Yap all alone underneath the basket for an easy lay-up and a 7-3 advantage for San Mig at the 10:12 mark of the first. Another Yap one-hander at the 6:18 mark gave the Mixers an 18-12 lead but a Mac Cardona trey, his second of the quarter, quickly pulled the Bolts to within three points. A fast break lay-up from Vic Manuel knotted the game at 21-all, but a baseline jumper from Bowles gave the lead back to San Mig with only 3:01 left in the first. Cliff Hodge then scored on a baseline jumper followed by a mid-range connection from Eric Dawson to give Meralco a 25-23 lead at the 2:22 mark of the first. San Mig then recovered to go up 28-72, at the end of the first quarter. The Mixers then went on a run in the second period. A three-point conversion by PJ Simon gave San Mig their first double-digit lead of the game at 42-30, with 7:38 left in the first half. Bowles was then forced out of of the game, as he suffered a cut on top of his right eye, but the Mixers responded with a Yap three-ball and a Simon basket for a 47-32 lead with 6:29 left in the second period. Dawson, the leading candidate to win the Best Import of the Conference award, then went on a 5-0 run of his own, with Cardona adding a tear drop to cut the San Mig lead down to eight, 47-39. Even without Bowles, the Mixers kept the lead as they went to the halftime break with a 53-46 advantage. Bowles still led all scores with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Yap added 14 points while Simon chipped in nine at the half. Dawson and Cardona on the other hand carried the offense for Meralco in the first 24 minutes with 14 points apiece. Yap started the second half by making another one-handed mid-range shot. After a Dawson basket, "Big Game James" drove into the lane for a left-handed lay-up for a 57-48 count in their favor.
Eric Dawson (R) was shut down late by the San Mig Coffee defense. KC Cruz
Cardona helped the Bolts get back into the game with a triple at the 6:13 mark to cut the San Mig lead down to three at 64-61. The Bolts inched closer with a little over two minutes remaining in the third quarter with a Salvacion triple. They then got two free throws from Chris Ross to knot the game at 73-all, only for Yap to steal the lead back for San Mig with a jumper. Two free throws from Dawson then reset the table, 75-all, entering the final canto. Meralco took the lead 77-75 with a Ross lay-up, but Pingris quickly tied the ball game on the very next play. Ross gave the Bolts an 82-79 lead off a shot-clock buzzer-beating triple but Bowles tied the game again at 82-all via a three-point play. Pingris broke the deadlock at the 5:17 mark with a couple of free throws and Barroca added a fast break lay-up off a Meralco turnover for an 86-82 advantage. An unguarded Joe Devance basket sealed the win for the Mixers, as Meralco fell silent late. San Mig Coffee also held Dawson scoreless in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to the efforts of Pingris, who rested from guarding Meralco's prolific import by guarding the Bolts' second biggest scoring threat in Cardona. "We're happy to be in the semis right now but we have a tough assignment coming up. We're taking on the number one seed," Cone said. "Maybe we have a little confidence going against them [but] I don't think there's anyone in our team who thinks that this is going to be an easy series." Dawson still had a tremendous game with 24 points and 16 rebounds. He also added five assists, three steals, and a block, but he had to play 44 minutes in the game compared to only 37 for Bowles. Mark Cardona added 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, plus seven rebounds. Chris Ross notched 13 markers, nine boards and five dimes in a near-triple-double effort, but shooters Ronjay Buenafe and Sunday Salvacion were particularly quiet. Buenafe went scoreless in 10 minutes, while Salvacion accounted for just two triples. The semis series between the San Mig Coffee Mixers and the Alaska Aces will start on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Tip-off will be at 6:15 pm. - AMD, GMA News The scores: San Mig Coffee 90: Bowles 23, Yap 20, Pingris 14, Simon 11, Devance 9, Barroca 7, Mallari 6, Najorda 0, Reavis 0, DeOcampo 0 Meralco 82: Dawson 24, Cardona 19, Ross 13, Hugnatan 6, Salvacion 6, Hodge 5, Manuel 4, Vanlandingham 3, Reyes 2, Buenafe 0, Artadi 0 Quarter scores: 28-27, 53-46, 75-75, 90-82
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