Mixers seize series buffer; Barroca, Melton punish Kings

San Mig Coffee guard Mark Barroca blocks Ginebra giant Greg Slaughter from behind. August dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines — In a series that’s supposed to be dominated by giants, San Mig Coffee’s smallest men loomed largest last night and spearheaded the Mixers in bringing hulking Barangay Ginebra to its knees.

Mark Barroca and 5-foot-9 rookie Justin Melton stood tall in the final quarter, leading the Mixers to a 97-89 win for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Final Four series with the Gin Kings in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup before an animated throng at Mall of Asia Arena.

Barroca scored nine of his career-high 25 points, Melton had a key triple in the stretch and the duo combined for nine crucial rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Mixers won this one pulling away to avenge an ugly Game 2 loss just two nights before.

“I guess we deserved a good game because the last game wasn’t pretty,” San Mig coach Tim Cone told reporters. “Getting beat so badly (in Game 2), our guys came out (Sunday night) with a lot of character.”

Not only were Barroca and Melton scoring and rebounding, the duo also limited the productions of their Ginebra counterparts with LA Tenorio shooting just two of his 14 while being hounded by Barroca.

“I felt we did a great job of pushing the ball down the court in the last period,” Cone said.

Barroca and Melton played without relief in the final frame for the Mixers, who wriggled out of an 83-80 game with a 10-2 run highlighted by triples coming from the two guards.

Barroca also finished with eight rebounds and five assists, Peter June Simon added 19 points and Marc Pingris terrorized Ginebra defensively while contributing 15 points that went with 12 boards.

Slaughter, the 7-foot rookie, finished with a career-high 29 points for the Kings.

But he shot just four in the fourth quarter and Aguilar didn’t get his three fourth-quarter points until the waning seconds when the game had already been decided.

Pingris also played defense on Tenorio at the start of the game before sliding to assignments against Caguioa, Aguilar and, later on, Slaughter when the game was on the line.

“It’s such a luxury for me, as a coach, to have a player like that,” Cone said of Pingris.

Meanwhile, Petron Blaze, coming off a lopsided Game 3 win, tries to level its side of the Final Four with Rain or Shine Monday at 8 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Boosters will come into the game fresh from a 33-point blowout of the Elasto Painters.

The scores:

SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 97—Barroca 25, Simon 19, Pingris 15, Yap 13, Devance 8, Reavis 7, Melton 6, Mallari 2, Sangalang 2, De Ocampo 0.

GINEBRA 89—Slaughter 29, Caguioa 21, Tenorio 14, Aguilar 12, Baracael 7, Ellis 3, Helterbrand 2, Mamaril 1, Ababou 0, Monfort 0. 

Quarters: 25-17, 46-47, 71-68, 97-89