Barroca comes up big down the stretch as Mixers nip Energy Cola

MANILA, Philippines – San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone expected a grind-it-out kind of game against Barako Bull.

Cone was right as the Mixers had to rally from nine points down in the fourth quarter to edge the Energy Cola, 81-77, and book a quarterfinals ticket in the 38th PBA Governors’ Cup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I told the guys this is going to be a really hard game, much, much harder than they thought,” said Cone, whose team stretched its winning streak to four games to improve to 5-3. “I told them you’re going to find a way to pull it out.”

Mark Barroca showed the way with six of his 12 points coming in the final 2:53 of the game, including a jumper that tied the score and two clutch free throws that gave the Mixers a 79-77 cushion with only 18.3 ticks left.

“That team is just so well coached. Rajko (Toroman) and Bong (Ramos) are doing a great job. They have done wonders with that team. They made Monfort a star, rejuvenated Danny (Seigle),” Cone said.

Marqus Blakely led San Mig Coffee with 22 points and 14 rebounds while former Barako Bull swingman Allein Maliksi reminded his former team of what he is capable of with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

“You can see the value of Allein. If James (Yap) struggles a little bit we can have another guy there.”

The Mixers came back from a 66-75 deficit behind their stingy defense, forcing the Energy to commit 23 turnovers.

Barako Bull, which dropped to 4-4,l still had enough time to either tie or take the lead with 18 seconds left but import Michael Singletary turned the ball over after the ball hit his left foot while he was about to make a move against Blakely on the isolation.

Maliksi, the former University of Santo Tomas star, sealed the game at the line with 5.5 seconds remaining.

Singletary was unstoppable for the most part of the second half en route to a game-high 38 points and 15 rebounds but had 10 turnovers, with a couple of them down the stretch.