PETRON BLAZE BLASTS SAN MIG COFFEE FOR 2-1 LEAD
Alex Cabagnot was out with plantar fasciitis but it hardly mattered for Petron Blaze Wednesday night.
Elijah Millsap played the point with Cabagnot helpless on the sideline, and Petron Blaze recalled its dominant form, blasting San Mig Coffee, 90-68, to gain the two-game-to-one lead in the PLDT Telpad PBA Governors Cup best-of-seven finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We made couples of adjustments after our Game Two loss, and we’re very happy on the way the team responded,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla.
“It was simple adjustments — technical things like how we react on the way they play their triangle. We held them down to 68 and I think the guys really stepped up,” Abanilla also said.
The Boosters got going in the second quarter, pulling away, 55-30, at the half, and simply refusing to look back.
“They were great in this game and we’re not,” rued San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
“Everything went wrong for us but we accept that and we’re ready to move on,” Cone added. “It’s a seven-game series and a three-point loss is the same as a 22-point blowout. We win by one the next game and we would forgot this game.”
It was a virtual no-contest as the Boosters utterly dominated the Mixers from the second quarter onwards, leading by as many as 30 at 77-47.
They did that even with Cabagnot helpless on the sideline in crutches.
“Cabagnot is day-to-day but we’re hoping he could come back the soonest possible time,” said Abanilla of their chief point guard who went down with a right foot injury towards the end of Game Two.
“He’s playing a tremendous conference. He’s one of the major reasons why we’re here,” Abanilla also said. “Good thing, we’re ready for things like this. Millsap at the point, we tinkered on that in the off-season.”
Millsap did the job very well, anchoring Petron’s biggest game in the post-elim plays. He logged 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals against four turnovers in 34 minutes of play.
Denok Miranda and Paolo Hubalde had their help in tending the backcourt, and they ended up combining for 15 points, three assists and two rebounds.
On the other end, Abanilla threw different defensive faces on Marqus Blakely, holding him down to 17 markers and 10 boards.
Millsap and his teammates played with great enthusiasm on both ends, thus, bouncing back strong from their 84-100 loss in Game Two.
Junmar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos added double-digit productions as the Boosters moved within two games of a 20th championship.
“It’s our dream to go all way to the championship. We always want to play hard and give our best, and if there’s the opportunity to get it, we’ll definitely go for it,” said Abanilla.
With big stops that they parlayed into key transition baskets, the Boosters pulled away at 42-22 on a 14-2 start in the second quarter.
Petron pounced on San Mig badly in the second period that the Boosters sat on a 55-30 cushion at the turn.
The Mixers faded away as they converted just a single field-goal basket, through PJ Simon, in the first eight minutes of the quarter.
Their next field goal came on a jam by Blakely off an inbound with 3:38 left in the first half.
Towards the end of the first quarter, Petron was actually already in control, taking eight-point spreads at 19-11 and 28-20.
The Petron starters clobbered their San Mig counterparts, 49-25, in the first 24 minutes of play. (SB)
The scores:
Petron 90 – Millsap 28, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 13, Santos 10, Hubalde 9, Miranda 6, Tubid 5, Deutchman 0, Lutz 0, Kramer 0, Isip 0, Ildefonso 0.
San Mig Coffee 68 – Blakely 17, Yap 10, Mallari 9, Devance 9, Barroca 7, Simon 6, Pingris 5, Reavis 3, Alvarez 1, Gaco 1, Ponferrada 0, Acuna 0, Najorda 0, De Ocampo 0.
Quarters: 28-20, 55-30, 77-52, 90-68
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