San Mig grabs 2-0 cushion, pushes TNT to the edge

Ryan Reyes of Talk n Text is block by Mark Pingris of San Mig ,at the Smart Araneta. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — Peter June Simon made San Mig Coffee’s very first attempt, and Marqus Blakely swatted away Talk ‘N Text’s initial offensive stab by Jason Castro in a whirlwind first 30 seconds that somehow dictated what kind of day it would be for both teams.

The Mixers made sure there was no tight endgame this time, scooting away from the Tropang Texters early to post a 93-85 win and build a commanding 2-0 lead in their PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four series Saturday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Mig went on to block at least five of Castro’s shots and seven more Talk ‘N Text attempts as the Mixers’ defense forced the Texters into a horrid shooting night to move within another win of their 27th title series appearance and step closer to a Grand Slam.

“It seemed like we were in control pretty much the whole game,” said San Mig’s Tim Cone, who is also chasing his second Triple Crown sweep after guiding Alaska to the rare feat in 1996.

The Mixers held the Texters to just 13 first quarter points and Marc Pingris canned two free throws with 5:01 left in the second period to open up a 42-22 lead that proved too huge of a mountain for Talk ‘N Text to scale.

“We were fighting ourselves the whole time [after building a big lead] because we knew they were going to make a huge run,” said Cone, who can enter his 29th Finals with another win.

“But we had a response for them every time; the guys kept their poise.” After going down, 13-32, at the end of the first, Talk ‘N Text outscored the enemy in each of the next two periods and came within five several times.

But the Mixers scored the first eight points of the fourth and restored a 72-59 lead to all but put it away.

Those 13 first period points by the Texters were matched by Joe Devance alone. He also had two of the Mixers’ five blocks in the first quarter.

“We came out really well and surprised them with the zone [defense],” Cone, whose wards needed overtime to pound out a 92-88 Game 1 win, explained.

The scores:
SAN MIG COFFEE 93—Blakely 19, Devance 19, Barroca 13, Yap 9, Pingris 8, Mallari 8, Simon 8, Sangalang 7, Maliksi 2, Taha 0, Melton 0.
TALK ‘N TEXT 85—Harris 33, Castro 12, De Ocampo 9, Canaleta 8, Williams 7, Alapag 6, Carey 4, Reys Ryan 2, Reyes Rob 2, Baclao 0, Fonacier 0.
Quarters: 32-13, 47-34, 64-59, 93-85