Mixers oust Texters, nail Finals berth

JAYSON Castro of Talk ‘N Text hesitates as San Mig forward Marc Pingris puts up a daunting presence at the paint in the game that was still being played at press time at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

TIM CONE uttered a cliché to perfectly describe San Mig Coffee’s current state in the PBA Governors’ Cup: “Our dream is still alive.”

The mercurial bench strategist was referring to the Grand Slam shot, which the Mixers booked last night following a hard-earned 93-87 victory over Talk ‘N Text in their rubber match for a Finals slot at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Mig opened up double digit leads late in the third period and used them as buffer for a whirlwind Talk ‘N Text finish anchored solely on Paul Harris, as the Mixers survived an eighth KO match this season to clinch their series, 3-2.

“I can now say it: Our dream is still alive, remarkably so,” Cone said. “We had to go through an incredible team to do it. It came down to this one (Game 5) and quite frankly, I don’t know how we won it.”

The Mixers started breaking away late in the third, when Joe Devance and Marcus Blakely hit twinners each and Peter June Simon drained a trey that had San Mig opening up a 60-50 lead heading into the final 2:29 of the period.

And after settling for a 62-55 lead at the end of the third, Mark Barroca hit seven unanswered points that ushered the Mixers to a 14-point bubble, which not even an 18-point explosion from Harris inside the final 2:39 could overhaul.

James Yap also hit some big shots down the stretch, topping his 25-point night with a triple and a 20-foot fallaway in a 34-second span that had the Mixers keeping an 83-69 lead.

That was before Harris ran amuck, shooting the last 18 points of the Texters, who managed to come within four points twice, the last at 91-87 after a three-point play off Marc Pingris heading into the final 14.9 seconds.

Barroca then sealed the deal—and the franchise’s 27th Finals appearance and 29th for Cone—with two free throws off Harris fifth foul with 10.2 ticks to go.

San Mig’s opponent will be either Rain or Shine or Alaska, which will play their version of a Game 5 at 5 p.m. today also at the Big Dome in Cubao.

Harris finished with 40 points, but the Texters showed an over-reliance on the three-point shot and paid dearly for it, finishing with an 11-for-38 clip.

Joe Devance, meanwhile, finished with his first career triple double, tallying 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

The scores:

SAN MIG COFFEE 93—Yap 25, Blakely 21, Barroca 17, Devance 11, Pingris 10, Simon 7, Sanggalang 2, Taha 0, Melton 0, Reavis 0, Hoilstein 0, Mallari 0, Gaco 0, Maliksi 0, Matias 0.

TALK ‘N TEXT  87—Harris 40, De Ocampo 13, Castro 11, Seigle 8, Espiritu 7, Fonacier 4, Williams 2, Rob Reyes 2,  Alapag 0, Carey 0, Baclao 0, Canaleta 0, Ryan Reyes 0, Aban 0.

Quarters: 21-20; 37-38; 62-55; 93-87