PBA: Blakely, Pingris come up big as San Mig slays Petron for Governors' Cup crown

(Updated-2 1:44am) After starting the season with a 1-3 record and getting involved in a brawl against the GlobalPort Batang Pier, the San Mig Coffee Mixers emerged triumphant at the end of the 2013 PBA Governors' Cup, defeating the Petron Blaze Boosters in game seven of their series, 87-77, to claim the championship Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It's the tenth title for the San Mig Coffee franchise, their first since the 2012 Commissioner's Cup. The championship also allowed their head coach Tim Cone to tie the legendary Baby Dalupan with 15 titles apiece.

The two teams entered the final three minutes with San Mig Coffee ahead by four after an Elijah Millsap make, 78-74. The Petron import only managed a split in his next trip to the line, as the Mixers maintained a three-point lead with 2:24 remaining. Marqus Blakely then completed a steal, before soaring for a layup to pad their lead with 1:47 to go. Season MVP Arwind Santos hit back quickly, but Blakely took it strong for an and-one, 82-77.

Good defense from Marc Pingris leads to another San Mig possession with 69 seconds left in the game. With Petron misfiring, the Gilas standout and Mark Barroca then connected on their charities to seal the deal.

"I am totally shocked at how our guys were able to do that," said San Mig head coach Tim Cone. "I did very little coaching over the past few games; they didn't play perfect basketball but they played perfect effort."

Pingris was adjudged Finals MVP. He finished this game with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, plus 17 rebounds, two assists and a whopping five blocks. Best Import of the Conference Marqus Blakely had 19 as well, along with 13 boards, three assists and four steals.

"Nagpapasalamat ako sa teammates ko na nagtiwala sila sakin," said Pingris.

The Coffee Mixers raced off to a 6-1 start in the first quarter after a Pingris one-hander. The Boosters then found their range, as Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter and Elijah Millsap connected on jumpers for an 8-6 edge, before Mark Barroca tied the game at 8-all.

James Yap and Pingris found their way around the Petron interior defense, before Barroca connected with a pull-up for a 19-13 spread. But after a Millsap jumper, Doug Kramer and Chris Lutz hit to end the first with the two teams knotted up at 19-all.

Blakely and former Petron rookie Alex Mallari pushed San Mig Coffee ahead to start the second, 25-21, before Millsap and Chris Lutz tied it up anew at 26-all. June Mar Fajardo then strung together five straight for a 28-26 Petron advantage, before PJ Simon connected from deep to knot it up at 31-all.

Four straight from Blakely briefly gave San Mig the upper hand, but Fajardo couldn't be denied, getting one off the glass. James Yap continued to go hard for another bucket, while PJ Simon made it a four-point game in his team's favor with 67 seconds left in the first half, 39-35.

Millsap briefly stopped the bleeding for the Boosters, but Barroca responded with his own jumper to sustain their advantage. Fajardo ended the second with a put-back though, to make it 41-39 for San Mig after two.

It was a total team effort for San Mig after two, as Blakely, Barroca and Pingris all registered eight points each. The Coffee Mixers' import also had nine boards at the break, with two steals and an assist. Yap and Simon chipped in six apiece.

Fajardo led Petron with 12 points, six rebounds and a block, while Millsap registered 11. Lassiter and Lutz had six and four points.

The Petron import sparked the start of the second half with a slam, before Arwind Santos connected with a jumper, 43-41. Blakely, Joe Devance and Pingris strung points together to give San Mig a slim lead, but two makes from Fajardo, followed by a Lassiter bucket made it 53-48 for the Boosters.

Four from Blakely and Pingris inched San Mig closer, before Simon started to sizzle for a 7-3 swing and a 60-56 lead. The Boosters responded with their own mini-run, as a pair of charities from Fajardo, followed by an Alex Cabagnot long bomb had Petron leading 61-60, with 1:03 to go. A 5-0 run by San Mig however gave the Mixers a four-point advantage heading into the payoff period, 65-61.

The Mixers looked to finish strong in the fourth, as four from Simon, followed by a Devance trey and a Pingris bucket stretched their lead to nine, 74-65. Millsap stopped the bleeding with a triple at the 7:09 mark, but James Yap eventuallysnapped a two-minute scoring drought for both teams with two charities.

Blakely cancelled out a Cabagnot triple with his own make, while Millsap tried to keep Petron afloat, 78-74, leading up to the game's final moments.

Simon added 16 markers to the San Mig Coffee cause, while Joe Devance finished with 11 points. James Yap shot 3-of-9 from the field for eight points, plus four boards.

Petron drew 25 points from Elijah Millsap, in addition to 11 rebounds and four assists. Number one overall pick June Mar Fajardo assembled a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds, however, the Boosters' one-two punch each turned the ball over five times, to account for 10 of the team's 12 miscues.

Marcio Lassiter was the only other Booster in double-figures, scoring 11, while MVP Arwind Santos had a meek outing with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals prior to fouling out.

Shooting percentages turned out to be the difference, as San Mig Coffee's defense held their foes to a 38.2 percent clip while shooting 45.2 percent themselves. The Boosters edged the Mixers in fast break points (15-9) and turnover points (16-12), but they managed  only a game-low 16 points in the final canto. - AMD, GMA News



The scores:

San Mig Coffee 87 - Blakely 19, Pingris 19, Simon 16, Devance 11, Barroca 10, Yap 8, Mallari 2, De Ocampo 2.

Petron 77 - Millsap 25, Fajardo 20, Lassiter 11, Cabagnot 8, Santos 7, Lutz 4, Kramer 2, Deutchman 0, Tubid 0.

Quarter scores: 19-19, 41-39, 65-61, 87-77