SMC averts collapse, levels series at 2-2

ARWIND Santos drops to his knees after receiving the MVP trophy. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

SAN Mig Coffee blew a 28-point lead and needed to dig deep in the stretch last night to pull off an 88-86 Game 4 victory over Petron Blaze that leveled their PBA Governors’ Cup title series at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Marc Barroca bailed the Mixers out in several crucial plays in the fourth, nailing the go-ahead free throws with 21.9 seconds remaining for 85-83 as San Mig rebounded mightily from a Game 3 mangling to make it a best-of-three series starting tomorrow.

“Like I said in the last game, a one-point win is the same as a 30-point win,” a hoarse San Mig coach Tim Cone told reporters after using an eight-man rotation and getting six to score at least 11 points.

“They (Boosters) are such an explosive team and they showed it (tonight),” Cone added. “They can come back that hard and that fast.”

The Boosters didn’t just come back hard, they even led, 77-73 after tip-in baskets by June Mar Fajardo and Elijah Millsap heading into the final 6:25.

And that was before Barroca hit two free throws and then a three-point shot that gave the Mixers back the lead.

Petron had a chance to tie it all up again at 85, but Arwind Santos, named MVP before the game, threw an inbounds pass to Millsap away coming off a timeout, giving Peter June Simon the chance to make it a four-point game with two free throws with 12 seconds left.

“This is a game that we have to learn from,” Petron coach Gee Abanilla said. “I give them (Mixers) credit for coming out strong. But we will be back on Sunday. We will be well-prepared.”

San Mig, getting 11 points from Marqus Blakely, roared to a 33-13 lead after the first period and took a 49-21 lead early in the second quarter, making it look like it would be a cakewalk the rest of the way.

Until Millsap scored 17 points in the third and the Petron defense held San Mig to just 15 points in the period.

Santos committed the key error that put a damper on a night that he came away with the league’s top individual award.

“I drove a pedicab, worked as a help in a carwash shop and pushed a rag-tag cart to buy junk in my youth,” Santos addressed the huge crowd in Filipino, nearly breaking down after receiving the trophy.

“I even peddled orchids (to households) just to get by,” the 6-foot-6 Santos said. “This is all true. I’m saying this to let everyone know that nothing is impossible with God’s help, that you can reach your dreams even if you are poor.”

Santos won the closest MVP race in the 38-year history of the league, tallying a total of 2,840 points to win the award by a mere 21 points over spitfirish Barangay Ginebra point guard LA Tenorio.

Santos, Tenorio and Castro were joined in the Mythical First Team by Calvin Abueva of Alaska and Tropang Texter Ranidel De Ocampo.

Abueva was named Rookie of the Year.

Santos was also named to the All-Defensive Team and was joined there by Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee, Sonny Thoss of Alaska, Gabe Norwood of Rain or Shine and Marcio Lassiter of Petron Blaze.

The scores:

SAN MIG COFFEE 88—Blakely 19, Pingris 15, Yap 14, Barroca 12, Simon 12, Devance 11, Mallari 4, Reavis 1.

PETRON 86—Millsap 33, Fajardo 20, Lassiter 13, Santos 8, Lutz 6, Kramer 2, Miranda 2, Tubid 2, Deutchman 0, Lanete 0, Hubalde 0.

Quarters: 33-13, 52-29, 67-63, 88-86