PJ Simon of San Mig Coffee (light) vs LA Tenorio and Yancy De Ocampo of Ginebra (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—Mark Barroca made only one field goal but it turned out to be the biggest shot of the game.
Barroca sank a floater with 11.6 seconds left as San Mig Coffee stunned top-seeded Barangay Ginebra, 85-83, to take Game 1 of their 2014 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals series Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“It doesn’t get any better than that in terms of back-and-forth, back-and-forth whole game long,” said San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone.
“I kind of went out of my coaching style today because I usually 90 to 95 percent of the time bring back all of my starters in the fourth quarter but Justin and Mark were playing so well defensively that they were able to match up against LA and Mark,” added Cone, referring to the Kings’ star backcourt of LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa.
Barroca, who only had five points, was scoreless through three quarters and wouldn’t get into the scoring column until the 11:04 mark of the final period while rookie Justin Melton tallied seven of his eight points in the fourth quarter.
“Justin and Mark were really the key down the stretch,” said Cone.
Tenorio still came away with 16 points including the Kings’ final four points for an 83-81 lead with 35.8 seconds remaining before Barroca scored the go-ahead basket off a steal by Joe Devance on the inbound pass by Mac Baracael, who had to throw in the pass with Ginebra left with no timeouts left.
“This game could’ve gone either way. It was that close. We got a finger on the ball and got the steal and Mark Barroca put up an incredible shot against a great defense by LA Tenorio. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good but we’ll take lucky every once in a while.”
The Mixers trailed by eight, 57-65, entering the fourth quarter but slowly found their way back. A 3-pointer by Melton put his team ahead, 80-75, with 3:11 left.
Caguioa made back-to-back baseline baskets off Tenorio’s assists to cut San Mig Coffee’s lead down to one, 80-79, before a Tenorio layup knotted the count at 81 with 1:00 to go.
But the Mixers executed better in the waning seconds and made stops when it mattered to outlast the Kings.
Devance led all scorers with 20 points, including 15 in the first half while PJ Simon added 16.
Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter combined for just 24 points and 17 rebounds as the Mixers’ rotating big men of Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis and Yance de Ocampo held their own against the Kings’ twin towers.
Game 2 is set on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.