The San Mig Coffee Mixers are back in the finals of the Governors’ Cup, and they relied on their biggest stars to get there. Marqus Blakely had 23 points, James Yap finished with 19, while Marc Pingris added 16 to lead the Mixers to a 79-73 victory at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday. The prolific San Mig Coffee import added 19 rebounds and five steals in the victory, which gave the Mixers a 3-1 win in their semifinal series. But they had to turn back a gritty Meralco squad that didn’t want to quit. San Mig Coffee started strong, beginning the game with a 13-1 advantage behind nine points from Blakely before taking a 27-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Meralco kept within striking distance, cutting the deficit to 22-18 at halftime. Yap and Pingris exploded in the third quarter, scoring nine points apiece as the Mixers opened up another double digit lead. San Mig Coffee was still up, 66-56, to begin the final period before Meralco came charging back behind Mario West. The Bolts import, playing despite an injured right shoulder, had his best game of the series with 22 points and 17 rebounds the help his team get back. Meralco came all the way to within a basket, 75-73, on a Reynel Hugnatan putback with less than a minute left. But the Bolts suffered a defensive breakdown, giving Mark Barroca an open undergoal layup to push the Mixers lead back to four points. The Bolts failed to convert in the next play, dooming their chances as Blakely made two free throws to ice the game. San Mig Coffee returns to the finals of the same tournament where it lost the title in seven games last year to the Rain or Shine, when the team was still known as the B-MEG Llamados. Mixers coach Tim Cone said he didn’t have any preference when it comes to a finals opponent, with the Elasto Painters still battling it out with the Petron Blaze Boosters for the other spot in the championship round. The Boosters lead the series, 2-1. “We’re just real thankful we’ve got a couple of days to rest up and get focused,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. “Either opponent is gonna be tough for us.” interaksyon/interaktv/san-mig-coffee-knocks-off-meralco-to-return-to-governors-cup-title-round
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:36:52 +0000
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