San Mig Coffee Mixers back in PBA Governors Cup finals

James Yap pass the ball to Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee (dark) vs John Wilson of Meralco (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — San Mig Coffee halted a furious Meralco fightback down the stretch for a 79-73 finals berth clincher on Sunday in the 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Mixers, shooting for a 10th crown in franchise history, barged back into the finale of the season-ending conference for the second straight season.

But San Mig had to deal with Mario West down the stretch this time, a problem the Mixers didn’t have in game 3 with Meralco import exiting the game early with injury.

West led the Bolts’ last ditch rally, trimming San Mig Coffee’s 14-point lead at the start of the fourth down to a single possession with under a minute to play.

“We don’t know how to make it easy. We always make it hard for ourselves,” admitted head coach Tim Cone.

“They played a really good series. It just went into bad luck in getting Mario West injured,” he added.

Marqus Blakely sealed the victory with a perfect trip from the stripe, a rare sight for the Mixers tonight as they missed seven FTs in the fourth.

Blakely finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds, two assists, five steals and a block for the Mixers, who await the winner of the Rain or Shine-Petron series.

James Yap added 19 points, Marc Pingris had 16 for San Mig, to counter West’s 22 point output for the Bolts.