Reality check: Blakely, San Mig hand Ginebra Kings their first loss
Barangay Ginebra finally met its match in the form of defending champion San Mig Super Coffee.
Unleashing their full might down the stretch, the Super Coffee Mixers pulled away from the Gin Kings and turned a tight battle into a 102-90 win to seize the lead in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors Cup before a jampacked Sunday night crowd at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
In a keenly-awaited, highly entertaining match that went back and forth majority of the way and played in front of more than 17,000 paying patrons, San Mig stamped its class against Ginebra in the payoff canto with import Marqus Blakely inflicting the most damage while anchoring a suffocating full-court press that resulted in a 16-0 run that broke the game wide open.
The 6-foot-5 Blakely, the reigning Best Import awardee, sizzled with a game-high 34 points, 15 of them coming in the fourth canto, on top of 15 rebounds, three assists and six steals. He spearheaded the Coffee Mixers’ big fourth-quarter run that turned a 78-79 deficit into a 94-79 lead en route to the victory that stopped Ginebra’s three-game winning run.
More importantly, the Mixers notched their third straight and fourth overall win after five starts while dealing former lead assistant coach and current Gin Kings chief tactician Jeff Cariaso his first loss.
PJ Simon, who was celebrating his 34th birthday, led all local Mixers with 19 points while guard Mark Barroca and four other teammates scored at least eight, typifying the team’s well-oiled and balanced offensive attack.
Import Zaccheus Masson and former league MVP Mark Caguioa tallied 18 points each for the Gin Kings, who gave the Mixers all they could handle in the first 40 minutes and took their last lead at 79-78 with more than seven minutes to go.
That, however, proved to be their last hurrah as the Mixers sent the Gin Kings ito disarray with their trapping defense, forcing turnover after turnover that translated into easy buckets and points from the charity stripe, leading to that 94-79 cushion with 3:45 to play.
A daring lay-up by guard LA Tenorio halted Ginebra’s four-minute drought, but San Mig Super Coffee sustained control with ease going to the closing minutes.
The Main Man: Marqus Blakely once again starred for the Mixers by finishing with game-highs in points, rebounds and assists while making life miserable for Gin Kings counterpart Z Mason.
Honorable Mention: Sharing the day’s limelight with Blakely was Simon, who torched Ginebra with 19 points on an efficient 9-of-13 shooting from the field, with most of his buckets coming in the first 36 minutes.
Game Turning Point: Trailing by one, the Mixers suddenly went on a tear behind their full-court press that send the Gin Kings down to their knees in four decisive minutes, enabling them to build a whopping 94-79 lead and take control for good.
He Said It:
San Mig Super Coffee coach Tim Cone: “This is still our time. We tried to hang on, and then in the fourth canto, we took up the pressure. We kind of let the dogs out.”
They Said It (via Twitter):
No doubt Coach Jeff learned a lot from @manilacone but nothing will compare to the learning he'll get from this game #losedgamebutnotdlesson
— Chot Reyes (@coachot) June 1, 2014
The scores:
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE (102) - Blakely 34, Simon 19, Barroca 11, Maliksi 9, Devance 8, Pingris 8, Yap 8, Sangalang 4, Reavis 1, Mallari 0.
GINEBRA (90) - Mason 18, Caguioa 18, Aguilar 12, Slaughter 11, Tenorio 11, Ellis 6, Helterbrand 5, Monfort 5, Reyes 2, Mamaril 2, Baracael 0, Ababou 0.
Quarterscores: 26-25, 47-50, 70-70, 102-90.
