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Mixers give Alaska a dose of their own medicine to force knockout match

San Mig Super Coffee simply refused to fade into the night.

The Mixers gave defending champion Alaska a perfect dose of its own medicine in the payoff canto, grinding out a 70-65 victory Wednesday to forge a sudden-death match in their PBA Commissioners Cup quarterfinals series at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Reeling from two straight setbacks, including a 77-86 decision two days ago, against the defense-minded Aces, the Mixers turned the tables around and held their opponents to a decisive eight-minute drought while firing away 16 unanswered points in the payoff canto to drag the highly-physical series to a winner-take-all match either on Friday or Saturday.

Down by as many as 13 points and staring at a 24-36 deficit at the break, San Mig Super Coffee started to get its usual groove in the third canto then even tightened up its defensive screws in the final canto to bring an erstwhile streaking Alaska back to earth.

After Dondon Hontiveros restored the Aces lead back to 57-51 early in the fourth, the Mixers suddenly employed a suffocating man-to-man zone defense that saw them forcing their rival to 11 straight misses and two errors while slowly pulling away behind a balanced attack for a 67-57 cushion capped by Joe Devance’s short-stab with 1:16 left to play.

However, the Aces didn't easily fold up as back-to-back triples by Hontiveros and Casio gave the Mixers one big scare, cutting the deficit to a manageable 65-69 going to the last 50.4 seconds.
San Mig Super Coffee kept the door ajar after missing its next offensive thrust but Alaska, despite two good looks from the three-point area, failed to pounce on and eventually saw its late-rally fall short.

Forward Marc Pingris bucked a nagging rib injury and typified the Mixers’ steely resolve, pumping in 17 points and 12 rebounds on top of two blocks, while fellow locals Mark Barroca, Joe Devance, and James Yap gave ample support to overcome another so-so performance from foul-plagued import James Mays.

Reigning Best Import awardee Rob Dozier led all scorers with 22 points but suffered a complete meltdown in the payoff canto where the Aces crumbled against the Mixers’ rejuvenated defensive pressure.

Hontiveros was the other Ace in double figures with 16 markers but veterans JVee Casio, Sonny Thoss and Cyrus Baguio groped for form.
 
The Main Man: Marc Pingris once again displayed the “heart of a true champion” as he anchored the Mixers’ figthback while trying to overshadow Aces top gunners JVee Casio and Rob Dozier.
 
Honorable Mention: Also coming up big for the Mixers was guard Mark Barroca, who outplayed Casio as he dished out an all-around outing of 10 points, five rebounds, as many rebounds and two blocks.
 
Game Turning Point: Playing with a collective sense of urgency, the Mixers clawed their way back from a 51-57 deficit behind their suffocating defense and turned things around with a comfortable 10-point cushion going to the final 76 seconds.
 
They Said It:

San Mig Super Coffee coach Tim Cone: “We just grind out, pure and simple. It’s hard to find gap into (Alaska) defense. They’re so solid. They’re frustrating to play with. We just stayed there and grind it. Whether we can do it again (on Friday or Saturday), I hope so. They (alaska) are defending at championship level without a doubt. Dozier and Thoss are two beasts. It’s a tough combo to play against. Somehow we won and I’m not sure how. But we won it. This is something that hopefully will give us some confidence and play a little bit more energetic.”
 
San Mig Super Coffee forward Marc Pingris: “Hindi ko naisip kung masakit man ‘yugn injury ko. Gusto ko manalo. Gusto naming patunayan na kaya naming basta kumpleto. Huwag na isipin ‘yung sakit. Pagkatapos na lang.
 
The scores:

San Mig Coffee 70 – Pingris 17, Devance 13, Mays 12, Barroca 10, Yap 9, Simon 4, Sanggalang 2, Reavis 2, Mallari 1, Melton 0.

Alaska 65 – Dozier 22, Hontiveros 16, Baguio 7, Casio 6, Jazul 6, Abueva 4, Thoss 3, Manuel 1, Reyes 0, Dela Cruz 0, Espinas 0.

Quarters: 12-16; 24-36; 49-50; 70-65.