PBA: San Mig Coffee finds range late, swipes game three for 2-1 semis lead versus Meralco

(Updated 10:01pm) San Mig Coffee unleashed a flurry of points in the last three minutes to take game three of their 2013 PBA Governors' Cup semifinals against the Meralco Bolts, 94-87, on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts showed spirited effort as they kept in step with the Mixers even without import Mario West (shoulder injury) in the fourth quarter. In the end, however, the hustle of Marqus Blakely and timely scoring from the San Mig Coffee guards swung the game to their favor.

Up by five points, 88-83, with 53 seconds to go, rookie Alex Mallari stepped up to the free throw line to make two free throws to add to his career ball game.

John Wilson completed a four-point play on the other hand to give the Bolts a chance with 26.2 seconds left, 90-87, but Mallari scored another pair of free throws to put the game away for the Mixers.

Mallari had a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Blakely submitted another all-around tally with 21 points, 22 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and five blocks.

“We always believe in Coach Tim [Cone]. We knew he was going to make adjustments. The adjustment was to put me on Jared Dillinger because I’m a little bigger,” Mallari said after the game. “They killed us on the boards [in game two] and we really wanted to make that a focus.”

In game two of the series, the Bolts played Jared Dillinger at the point which caused several mismatches. The San Mig Coffee coaching staff responded by fielding Mallari off the bench, which paid dividends.

As in the first two games, the two teams were locked up in a defensive struggle. After the first three minutes, only Bolt Mike Cortez registered a basket. The Mixers went to James Yap but he missed his first three shots. He also missed his first free throw, but he swished his second for a 7-5 count in favor of Meralco.

San Mig Coffee suffered a big blow when Marc Pingris was whistled for his third foul early on. Pingris lost his footing after getting hit with an elbow by Mario West leading the referee to call a blocking foul. The Bolts took advantage of the situation by getting some distance between them and the Mixers. A triple from Mike Cortez gave Meralco a 15-6 lead.

Val Acuna announced his entry to the game by making a long two to cut Meralco’s lead down to six at the 1:53 mark of the first. Sunday Salvacion extended the Meralco lead to nine with a triple, but Alex Mallari and Marqus Blakely ended the first quarter with four straight points to cut the Bolts’ lead to five at 22-17.

The Bolts opened the second quarter with a basket from West and a triple from Mark Cardona for their first double-digit lead of the game at 27-17. Mallari responded though with two layups to bring the Mixers closer at 27-21.

A triple from Mark Barroca at the eight-minute mark of the second got the Mixers within one at 29-28. San Mig Coffee then got their first taste of the lead on their next possession thanks to two free throws from Blakely.

The two teams figured in a see-saw battle over the next few minutes. Yap finally scored a field goal on an and-one play for a 44-41 San Mig Coffee lead with only 57 seconds left in the quarter. West ended the half with a free throw to cut the Mixers’ lead down to two at 44-42.

A triple from West gave Meralco a 48-46 lead early in the third quarter. Pingris however tied the game with a dunk on the next possession. Joe Devance scored on a tip, then tag-teamed with Blakely for back-to-back triples to give the Mixers a 56-48 lead. Things went from bad to worse for the Bolts when West was forced to step out of the game after injuring his shoulder. The Mixers replied by raising their lead to nine points, but Mike Cortez came alive with two triples to trim the San Mig Coffee lead down to three at 65-62.

The quarter ended with the Mixers holding 66-64 lead.

The Bolts quickly retook the lead in the fourth quarter after a layup from Jay-R Reyes and a triple from Sunday Salvacion, 69-66. Blakely then provided the hustle for the Mixers leading to two baskets for Mallari to swing the game back in favor of San Mig at 72-71.

The Mixers bumped their lead up to five points, but layups from Cortez and John Wilson got the Bolts within a point, 78-77 with 4:19 left in the game. Blakely, however, responded with a put-back on the other end.

Mallari continued his tremendous play as he nailed a triple to give the Mixers an 84-79 lead. Barroca then rewarded his coach for having two point guards on the floor by making a long two to stretch their lead to seven. Yap nailed the dagger with a layup at the 1:34 mark for an 88-79 count.

PJ Simon continued to struggle in the series as he only scored two points, but Mark Barroca stepped up, alongside Mallari, by scoring 18 points in the game. Yap, on the other hand, scored 13 points, including a crucial layup in the end-game. After going scoreless in the first game, the duo of Joe Devance and Marc Pingris combined for 11 points in game three even though Pingris was in foul trouble in the first quarter.

Mike Cortez led the charge for the Bolts, scoring 15 points in the game. West and Wilson added 13 points each while their bigs, Hugnatan and Hodge, chipped in 11 points each. Dillinger continued his comeback tour by scoring 10 markers in the game.

The Mixers dominated the battle of the boards with 55 rebounds compared to only 41 for the Bolts.

The disparity in fouls and free throws was again evident in this game. The Bolts were called for 35 fouls while the Mixers were only whistled for 19. As a result, San Mig Coffee shot 41 free throws compared to only 22 for Meralco. Blakely accounted for 19 free throws and he surprisingly made 12 for a decent 63.2 percent clip.

The Mixers now have a chance to punch their return ticket to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals on Sunday with a win. - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

San Mig Coffee 94 - Mallari 23, Blakely 21, Barroca 18, Yap 13, Devance 7, Pingris 4, Reavis 4, Acuna 2, Simon 2

Meralco 87 - Cortez 15, West 13, Wilson 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 11, Dillinger 10, Salvacion 9, Cardona 3, Reyes 2, Guevarra 0, Ross 0

Quarter scoring: 17-22, 44-42, 66-64, 94-87