SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE GETS BACK ON TRACK
San Mig Super Coffee uncorked a 32-point third quarter blast to snap their two-game losing skid at the expense of Air21, 97-84, in the 2014 PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. (Click here for FULL boxscores.)
Peter June Simon came out as one of the heroes for San Mig Coffee in this Bataan Day affair as the Makilala, North Cotabato native had 20 points, one of four players which scored in double figures for the Mixers who earned at least a playoff for a quarterfinal berth with the win.
Import James Mays led the squad with a double-double of 23 points and 15 boards, while Marc Pingris and Joe Devance combined for 23 markers.
“We played with a lot more togetherness and connection in the third quarter,” said head coach Tim Cone. “We connected more than we have been in the last games. Coming out of halftime, we had a better sense of urgency. That’s what we’ve been lacking in the last couple of games.”
San Mig Coffee also kept its twice-to-beat hopes in the quarterfinals alive with its 4-2 record, a win behind second-seed San Miguel Beer, coincidentally, its next opponent on Saturday.
Air21 fell to a three-way tie at sixth place with Barangay Ginebra and Meralco with their identical 3-4 slates.
It was a nice bounce-back win for the Coffee Mixers, who were coming off back-to-back losses to Talk ‘N Text and Barako Bull prior to the All-Star break.
“That was a big one for us,” said Cone of the win which he attributed also to the kind of defense they showed.
“We created a lot of stuff through our defense, which is what we’ve tried for from a coaching standpoint,” he explained. “In the third quarter…I think we did a good job against (Wesley) Witherspoon and against (Mac) Cardona. They’re basically our two targets in our game plan, and we did a good job.”
The Coffee Mixers, who are eyeing a ninth straight playoff appearance and eight straight under Cone, fended off a strong stand by the Express in the first half as Air21 breathed down its neck in a 45-44 affair captained by Witherspoon and Sean Anthony’s combined 22 points in the second period.
But a strong 32-point third quarter push opened the gates from a one-point lead in a tightly-contested game to a 16-point one, 72-66, with two minutes to play in the third.
Witherspoon paced the Express with 27 points along with 16 boards.
Anthony had 14 of his 19 points in the first half, but could not produce the same numbers in the following quarters. He played his first game in the purple uniform since being traded to Air21, together with rookie Eliud Poligrates, from Talk ‘N Text for Nino Canaleta late in the eliminations of the last conference.
Joseph Yeo and Cardona finished with 11 and 10, respectively. (RL)
The scores:
SAN MIG COFFEE 97 – Mays 23, Simon 20, Pingris 12, Devance 11, Yap 9, Sangalang 8, Barroca 6, Cawaling 3, Melton 3, De Ocampo 2, Gaco 0, Reavis 0.
AIR21 84 – Witherspoon 27, Anthony 19, Yeo 11, Cardona 10, Villanueva 5, Borboran 4, Taulava 4, Burtscher 2, Camson 2, Ramos 0.
Quarterscores: 20-18, 45-44, 77-62, 97-84.
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