San Mig Coffee blasts Talk ‘N Text, climbs to a 2-0 semis lead

MANILA, Philippines – The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers zoomed to a 32-13 first quarter lead and never looked back on their way to a 93-85 victory and grabbing a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 semifinal series in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup on Saturday, June 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Led by import Marqus Blakely’s 19 points and 10 rebounds, the Mixers bucked injuries to main gunners PJ Simon and James Yap (9 points) to put the clamps on the Texters all game long.

Simon, who was out in the last two games due to severe back spasms, came back and still made significant impact, scoring 8 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists.

Joe Devance, who also had to be taken out in overtime of Game 1, dropped 19 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

“It seemed like we were control pretty much the whole game until the end of the third quarter,” San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone said. “We were fighting ourselves the whole time because we knew any moment they were gonna make a huge run on us. And they did.”

After leading by as much as 20 points midway in the second canto, 42-22, the Mixers weathered a huge third quarter storm as Talk ‘N Text came to within 58-53 on a wild Kelly Williams shot at the 2:27 mark of that frame.

But San Mig Coffee took everything Talk ‘N Text fired at them and just kept on swinging back.

“We had a response for them every time,” Cone said. “The guys kept their poise and they were able to pull it out.”

From the 12 three-pointers (9 in the second half) the Texters drained, to the defense they struggled to break down – San Mig Coffee answered back with pristine execution and even feistier defense.

The Mixers’ defense was simply on-point this game as they forced the Texters to the outside and made them shoot only 17-of-47 two-point field goals. San Mig controlled the boards as well, 55-44.

Mark Barroca quarterbacked well for the Mixers in this game, not only doing damage on offense with 13 points, but also tracking down 9 rebounds (4 on the offensive glass). He also had two dimes, two steals and two blocks.

“It’s only two, we need another one,” Cone noted. “If there’s any team that’s capable of coming back it’s this team (Talk ‘N Text). We’d rather be in this position than the other one. We’re feeling blessed to be up 2-0.”

Game 3 of this semis series will be played on Monday, June 23.

Scores:

San Mig Super Coffee (93) – Blakely 19, Devance 19, Barroca 13, Yap 9, Pingris 8, Mallari 8, Simon 8, Sangalang 7, Maliksi 2, Taha 0, Melton 0.

Talk ‘N Texts (85) – Harris 33, Castro 12, De Ocampo 9, Canaleta 8, Williams 7, Alapag 6, Carey 4, Reys Ryan 2, Reyes Rob 2, Baclao 0, Fonacier 0.

Quarter scores: 32-13, 47-34, 64-59, 93-85.

– Rappler.com