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YAP TO THE RESCUE AS SAN MIG CLAIMS GAME 1
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When San Mig Super Coffee needed the big shots, Big Game James Yap stepped up to the plate once again.
The two-time MVP drilled a three-pointer from the left wing and followed it up with a leaning jumper off of a Marc Pingris handoff in the final minute to give the Coffee Mixers the lead it would not surrender.
“Those were two of the toughest shots in basketball and he made it look easy on a very crucial time,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. “He’s really stepping up and playing big when we need him.”
Behind Yap, San Mig Coffee eked out a come-from-behind 104-101 nail-biter over Rain or Shine to take Game 1 of the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup FinalsTuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Yap scored nine of his 10 fourth quarter points in the last three minutes, and finished with 14 points and six rebounds to tow San Mig one step closer to its Grand Slam dream.
Peter June Simon led the scoring parade for the Coffee Mixers with 18 points that went with seven rebounds, as Marc Pingris also had 14 markers and five assists.
Import Marqus Blakely, foul-plagued all game long, also knocked in a double-double with 13 points and 14 boards, with Mark Barroca (11), Allein Maliksi (10), and Joe Devance (10) all hitting in double figures.
San Mig Coffee crawled its way back from a 17-point third quarter deficit, leaning on Blakely, Devance, and substitutes Maliksi and Ian Sangalang. The Mixers patiently brought the ROS lead down to five with 10 minutes left in the fourth.
The SMC rally set the stage for a furious finish with Reid taking on all comers as the E-Painters tried to recover from the San Mig onslaught.
With Yap scoring five straight points and a pair of freebies from Blakely, San Mig found itself leading by five, 103-98, with 8.1ticks left to play.
Reid would then be fouled by Simon in the next possession, converting all three free throws to close in at 103-101, with 4.7 left.
A split from the line by Simon left the door open for Rain or Shine, but Paul Lee’s three-point attempt missed its mark, sending the Elasto Painters on their feet as they felt defender Pingris should have been called for a foul.
“It’s always tough when a game is decided on a call like that,” Cone said.
Reid scored 14 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth canto, but that wasn’t enough as the E-Painters now find themselves having to win three of the next four games.
Jeff Chan had a 3-of-6 shooting night from three-point country and wound up with 17 points. Lee had 12 markers behind three treys. Beau Belga also scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“The bottomline is our guys, we didn’t play a good first half. We came out remarkably flat in a championship game and I was incredulous at halftime that we could play that way. But as with the character of this team, they do a good job of talking to each other and making a collective decision that they’re gonna come out and play in the second half,” Cone said.
Cone praised his boys, especially his subs, for continuously fighting back to give San Mig a chance to win the game in the end.
“I think the second group – Justin (Melton), Mark (Barroca), Ian (Sangalang), Rafi (Reavis) – that team really gave us the lift,” he said. “Allein, of course, was fabulous. I wouldn’t have taken him out except he has to come out. He was so tired, but his energy gave us the spark. And in the last three minutes of the game, our first group came out and was able to pull it off. The credit all goes to the second group in getting us back in the game and giving us the lead.”
The multi-titled mentor noted that this close game is just a preview of things to come in this best-of-five series.
“If you remember the last time we played this team in a seven-game series in the Philippine Cup, we were beat in Game 1 by a Paul Lee shot at the buzzer. We have all the respect for this team,” he said. “It always seems to go down the wire with these games with them and hopefully, we’re smart enough to know that we can’t come out flat against them in any other game this series. We got to be ready. Our first group has to be ready and set the tone.”
Game 2 is on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (RL)
The scores:
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 104 – Simon 18, Pingris 14, Yap 14, Blakely 13, Barroca 11, Maliksi 10, Devance 10, Sangalang 7, Reavis 5, Melton 2, Mallari 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 101 – Reid 35, Chan 17, Lee 12, Belga 11, Norwood 7, Almazan 6, Arana 5, Cruz 2, Tiu 2, Nuyles 2, Ibanes 2, Rodriguez 0.
Quarterscores: 24-29, 46-57, 71-78, 104-101
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