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.