Mark Barracael vs Justin Melton PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—Barangay Ginebra San Miguel fended off a furious fightback by San Mig Coffee to salvage an 85-82 win and level their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at 2-2 Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Mac Baracael got the hand en route to a 20-point outing, built on four-of-five shooting from long range to lead the Kings, who squandered a 16-point lead before making the necessary stops down the stretch to hold on.
“The team kept its composure. The players were still focused and they still stuck through our game plan,” said Ginebra head coach Ato Agustin, whose squad looks to make it two straight when both teams meet again on Saturday for a pivotal Game 5, also at the Big Dome.
The Kings, though, looked rattled as the Mixers roared back and even took a 72-70 edge early in the fourth quarter, thanks to a blistering 18-0 blast with their spry backcourt Mark Barroca and Justin Melton once again anchoring the charge on both ends of the floor.
A 3-pointer by the rookie Melton from the left wing capped San Mig Coffee’s scintillating run with still 9:15 remaining.
But just when everything seemed not going in Ginebra’s way, the Kings got back to their feet.
A putback by Japeth Aguilar off an LA Tenorio miss punctuated Ginebra’s 10-3 run that put the Kings up, 82-79, with 1:18 remaining.
Baracael then stole a bad entry pass by Marc Pingris to James Yap before Tenorio split his free throws for an 83-79 cushion with only 1:11 to go.
Yap, who also scored 20 points, nearly made a potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired after Tenorio made two freebies with 5.4 ticks left.
Seven-foot Greg Slaughter notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks but he and Aguilar were neutralized most of the game.
Joe Devance added 13 points for the Mixers, who trailed 54-70, at the 1:30 mark of the third period.