PBA: Mixers survive late Texters comeback as Yap gives San Mig Coffee a 2-1 lead

(Updated 10:51pm) James Yap nailed the go-ahead jumper to lift the San Mig Coffee Mixers to a 77-75 win over the Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters, Tuesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, giving his side a 2-1 lead in the Commissioners’ Cup Finals.

San Mig Coffee routed TNT in game one, 95-80, but the Texters bounced back in game two, 86-76, with game three as the early tiebreaker in the best-of-five series.   

The Mixers can clinch the series on Thursday at the PhilSports Arena.

Yap finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds, making just one of his three attempts from the arc. Import James Mays was a force in the paint and posted 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and five blocks. PJ Simon added 17 points, while Joe Devance notched 10 points and five boards.

The Texters rode Jayson Castro, the newly-minted Best Player of the Conference, hard in the fourth quarter, as he and Ranidel De Ocampo nailed consecutive triples to establish a four-point lead in crunch time. But James Mays banged an and-one, and James Yap nailed a a corner bucket to give the Mixers a 76-75 lead that they did not relinquish with 28 seconds to go. Twice Castro tried to bail out the Texters and twice he failed, missing two three-pointers as his team faces elimination in game four.

"I just told the guys that we still had possessions left," said Mixers coach Tim Cone. It was a game for the ages in my opinion, just two really proud teams that don't quit and keep fighting. We have absolute, total respect for Talk 'N Text."

"It was a tremendous game, just one big shot after big shot," he continued. "In the end, our defense made a big stop and that was the key. It just felt intense and tight the whole game through, it just came down to the last possession as it should be."

The Mixers were aggressive from the get-go, as PJ Simon and Joe Devance combined for 13 of the reigning Governors’ and Philippine Cup champions’ first 16 points. Talk 'N Text struggled heavily in the first quarter, as was typical in the series, and trailed by as much as 14 points due to uncharacteristic errors and misses around the rim. However, a late surge from Richard Howell helped the Texters cut the deficit entering the second, 25-15.

Jayson Castro bannered a 14-4 run to open the period, fueled by turnover scoring, to knot the game at 29-all. The Mixers stayed aggressive on the offensive glass and found ways to take the ball inside to James Mays, but KG Canaleta's shooting kept Talk 'N Text abreast in the game. Canaleta canned their last nine points, but San Mig Coffee still held a 37-35 lead at halftime.

Castro put the team on his back after the intermission, keying the Texters' offense against James Yap's incursions in the paint. Ian Sangalang, playing his usual spot minutes as the quarter found down, led an 8-0 run to close the period. Jimmy Alapag tried to end the period on a high note, but his last-ditch trey was swatted by Devance, thus preserving a 60-56 Mixers lead heading into the fourth.

Talk 'N Text began the frame with a 9-2 run, capped by a Castro triple, to take a 65-62 edge. However, a Mays and-one halted the streak, and after several defensive-minded sequences, the Texters ground out a 72-71 lead off a De Ocampo trey with two minutes to go. After a Mixers miss, Castro then banked a high-looping triple to bump the lead up to four, 75-71, 1:15 left.

Mays connected on another and-one off a timeout, and contested a Castro trey, causing the BPC to miss, and giving San Mig Coffee the ball back with 39.8 seconds left. The Mixers swung the ball around and found Yap in the right corner, who pump-faked once and nailed the go-ahead shot, 76-75, with 28 seconds remaining.

The Texters called a timeout but De Ocampo couldn't get the 13-footer to drop. They recovered the rebound, but a bad pass from De Ocampo to Castro saw the ball roll out of bounds before they could reset the play with six seconds remaining. TNT was forced to foul Devance off the inbounds, but the forward split his charities and left 4.8 seconds on the clock, keeping the door open for the Tropa.

Burning their final timeout, the ensuing play saw Castro try to connect from deep as two Mixers rushed to contest his shot. The ball hit the back of the rim and bounced out, preserving the win for San Mig Coffee.

After the game, a solemn Norman Black addressed the media. "We just gotta put this behind us and get ready for the game a few days from now. I just hope that the game is governed well to give us a fair chance of winning," he said.

"I just think that contact in the game of basketball should be called evenly on both ends," he continued. "If you're calling fouls on one team, then the same contact should be called on the other end. That's fairness in sports and fairness in the game."

The Mixers were called for 13 fouls while the Texters had 21. San Mig Coffee went 10-of-20 (50 percent) from the charity stripe, while Talk 'N Text connected on 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from the line.

Overall, San Mig Coffee shot 32-of-66 (48.5 percent) from the floor and held the Texters to 30-of-92 (32.6 percent) shooting.

Talk 'N Text led 16-9 on second-chance points and 16-5 on turnover points.

Jayson Castro finished with 21 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-24 shooting. Ranidel De Ocampo posted a series-high 18 points and six rebounds. KG Canaleta added 12 points, while Richard Howell had 10 points, 22 rebounds and five assists. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

San Mig Coffee 77 - Mays 20, Simon 17, Yap 13, Devance 10, Pingris 7, Sangalang 6, Barroca 2, Mallari 2, De Ocampo 0, Reavis 0, Melton 0

Talk ’N Text 75 - Castro 21, De Ocampo 18, Canaleta 12, Howell 10, Williams 5, Carey 5, Reyes Ryan 4, Reyes Rob 0, Aban 0, Fonacier 0, Alapag 0

Quarter scoring: 25-15, 37-35, 60-56, 77-75