Witherspoon catches fire as Air21 torches San Mig Coffee to force Game 5

Air21’s Wes Witherspoon (light) vs San Mig’s Marc Pingris (dark).

MANILA, Philippines—Groping for form the last two games, Wesley Witherspoon rediscovered his shooting touch as Air21 rode on his hot hand to torch San Mig Coffee, 94-91, and extend their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals series to a deciding Game 5 Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Witherspoon erupted for a game-high 32 points on eight-of-14 shooting from long range as the Express improved to 3-0 in do-or-die games.

“The old shooting hands of Wesley is back. I think that’s a welcome relief for us. If you look at our last two games he completely became invisible that’s why we struggled,” Air21 head coach Franz Pumaren told reporters after his team sank a franchise-best 15 triples.

“I think I was kind of hard on him the last few days and he responded and showed his true character,” said Pumaren.

The Mixers mounted a comeback midway through the third period cutting the deficit down to just five.

But every time, the Express had an answer whether it was Witherspoon, Joseph Yeo or Asi Taulava coming through.

Mark Cardona and Simon Atkins also helped Air21 in sustaining its lead. Cardona scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter while Atkins hit timely baskets that kept San Mig Coffee at bay.

Yeo ended up with 13 points while Taulava, the oldest active player in the league at 41, notched 12 points and 14 rebounds.

“I must commend my players, they don’t want to end the conference today,” added Pumaren.

Air21 stretched its lead to 17 in the fourth quarter with a three-point play by Atkins. A drive by Yeo later extended the Express’ advantage back to 17, 94-77, with 2:10 left.

The game was already decided when the Mixers chipped away the deficit to single digits to wind up with only a three-point loss. But regardless of the final margin, the Express showed their Game 1 win was no fluke with a dominating win Monday night.

PJ Simon had 26 points and James Yap scored 22 for San Mig Coffee. Import James Mays had 14 points and 21 rebounds but sat out the whole fourth quarter.

Originally posted: 11:44 pm | Monday, May 5th, 2014

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