SAN MIG COFFEE LEVELS SERIES
San Mig Super Coffee launched a lightning strike towards the end of the first half to establish control and go on to stop Air21, 82-75, in Game Two of their PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four faceoff at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday night.
Justin Melton, Mark Barroca and Marc Pingris worked on a decisive 12-to-nothing run in the final minute of the second quarter, and the Mixers pulled away en route to the decisive victory that forged a one-game deadlock in their best-of-five semifinal duel with the Express.
“It’s so important that we broke their momentum. They’re riding a great momentum going to this game,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
Cone, the league’s winningest coach with 16 championships, achieved another personal milestone with a 100th win with San Mig Coffee, and more importantly foiled Air21’s bid to open a pivotal 2-0 lead in the series.
“We got back to the tempo that we like. We put more effort on the defensive side,” said Cone whose troops held the Express to a conference-low output.
“First and foremost, we’re a defensive team but we gave away a lot of points the last time. That’s not our character,” Cone said.
Melton, Barroca and Pingris best played that character as the Mixers ripped the game open in a flash late in the first half.
The Express failed to recover and missed the opportunity to tie a franchise best run of four straight wins.
With James Mays’ explosive start, San Mig Coffee just couldn’t crack Air21 in the first 23 minutes of play.
Air21 was close behind at 34-38 before San Mig Coffee got away with a 12-to-nothing closing run in the final minute of the second quarter, thus, taking a 16-point spread, 50-34, at the turn.
Melton fired away a booming trey then got a three-point play off a steal by Barroca to touch off their key run made upon Asi Taulava’s exit.
“Justin, Mark and Ping really came out and set the tone for our with their pressure defense. They created some offense off defense,” said Cone.
At the outset of the final half, Peter June Simon scored on a leaner as the Mixers stretched their lead to 18 at 56-38, then the Mixers led by as many as 20 early in the fourth before cruising through.
From 57-77 down, the Express rallied to within seven, 77-70, but couldn’t really shake off the Mixers who were led by Mays with a rare 20-20 game with 25 points and 23 rebounds.
James Yap continued to grope for form but PJ Simon and Joe Devance were also there to provide help. Simon, Melton and Devance contributed 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Taulava came through with 21 points and 18 rebounds while Cardona piled up 20 markers. Hardly making his presence felt was Wesley Witherspoon who made only eight points and six rebounds. (SB)
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