Video by RYAN LEAGOGO/NOY MORCOSO III
MANILA, Philippines— San Mig Coffee held on to defeat Rain or Shine, 93-87, in a heated Game 6 to clinch the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup championship Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Mixers bucked a comeback from the Elastopainters then leaned on the heroics of rookie Ian Sangalang, Mark Barroca and Mark Pingris down the stretch to help them secured their sixth All-Filipino crown.
Mark Barroca (center) of San Mig Coffee leads his team in celebrating their win over Rain or Shine on Wednesday night. NUKI SABIO/PBA Images
“The players were just awesome. They really worked hard for this,” said an elated coach Tim Cone, who is now the winningest coach in the league’s history with 16.
“We’re the best team in the country. Best collection of players who plays the best together. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
The Mixers squandered a 17-point lead in the first half after the Elastopainters threatened to walk-out with a minute gone by in the second quarter.
“We started the game really well but the momentary walking broke out our momentum,” Cone admitted. “When they came back they outplayed us.
Rain or Shine took a 65-62 lead on back-to-back triples by Chris Tiu and Paul Lee with 3:02 left in the third quarter, but the Mixers managed to snatch that back on the efforts of Sangalang in the fourth.
Sangalang, the second over-all pick in the 2013 rookie draft, scored at will over his smaller defenders and gave the Mixers a 79-70 lead with 7:16 to play.
Mark Barroca shows his winning form. NUKI SABIO/PBA Images
Barroca picked up where his rookie teammate left off and scored eight straight points in the last 2:41 to help San Mig Coffee ward off the Elastopainters in crunch time.
Barroca finished with 24 points in a performance fitting of the finals’ most valuable player. Sangalang added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting to get a taste of his first title in the league.
It was the 11th championship in the league of the San Mig Coffee/Purefoods franchise.
Yeng Guiao, meanwhile, still couldn’t get a title in the PBA Philippine Cup after another failed bid.
Paul Lee finished with 23 points for the Elastopainters, 10 in the fourth quarter where his triples managed to give them a fighting chance. Beau Belga added 21 points.
Jeff Chan, who led the Elastopainters in their game 5 win, was held to 11 points and zero in the second half.
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