Video by RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — San Mig Coffee squeaked by Rain or Shine, 77-76, in a back-and-forth Game 3 to gain a pivotal 2-1 lead in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup Finals Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
PJ Simon, Joe Devance and James Yap led the Mixers anew for the second straight game to outplay the Painters down the stretch.
Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee (dark) vs Paul Lee and Beau Belga of Rain or Shine (light). Nuki Sabio/PBA
“What an awesome game. That was really fun to be a part of, tough one to be a part of I’m still shaking right now. Couple of times they had the chance to take control but we make big shots to stay in the game,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
Simon scored 14 points while Devance and Yap added 13 each. Rookie Ian Sangalang also made his presence felt with 12 points and five rebounds in 19 quality minutes off-the-bench.
The Elasto Painters threatened to break the game open twice—late in the second quarter and early in the third period—but on both occasions, the Mixers managed to keep them from pulling away.
“They started the second half like a house on fire. They came out with so much energy to start that quarter. We kept finding ways to stay in the game and it came down to the last possession,” said Cone, who is now two games away from having the most number of league titles as a coach. He is currently tied with legendary tactician Baby Dalupan with 15.
ROS had a chance to win but Jeff Chan’s trey from way out hit the front rim as time ran out.
The Painters led, 50-42, on a floater by Paul Lee with 8:42 left but the Mixers quickly came back behind Yap, who despite being hobbled by foul trouble made nine straight points, that got his team back.
Both teams traded baskets from the midway point of the third quarter up yo the final buzzer. Back-to-back baskets by Devance gave the lead to San Mig Coffee for good, 77-74, with 2:54 left.
Lee, the hero of Game 1 for ROS, led all scorers with 23 points while Chan and Jervy Cruz, who played with a mask to protect his broken nose, had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Game 4 of their best-of-seven title series is on Friday, 8 p.m. also at the Big Dome.
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