San Mig Coffee continued its climb out of the rut, jumping off to a good start before holding on to a 91-84 victory over Globalport Saturday night in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup out of town match at Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum in Naga City.
PJ Simon had 19 points and four rebounds while import Denzel Bowles added 18 before fouling out late in the match as the Mixers notched their second straight win after dropping their first three assignments.
The defending champions actually took leads of as many as 23 points before Globalport made a run in the second half courtesy of Gary David and Japeth Aguilar.
The Batang Pier dropped their third straight game for a 2-4 record.
Meanwhile, Petron Blaze will again put premium on defense when it faces Barako Bull today at Smart Araneta Coliseum. The two teams clash at 4:15 p.m. with the Boosters seeking a fifth straight victory.
Barangay Ginebra, which finally broke out of a slump, takes on the surging Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters in the 6:30 p.m. mainer.
The Boosters are coming off a low-scoring 60-53 victory over Air21 on Friday, where Petron focused more on making stops than milking its offense-laden roster.
“Well, I don’t care if it’s a low-scoring game as long as we make stops on the other end,” said Petron coach Olsen Racela, who will continue preaching defense against the Energy (3-2) despite the return of gunners Alex Cabagnot, Chris Lutz and Danny Ildefonso from the injured list. June Navarro
The scores:
SAN MIG COFFEE 91—Simon 19, Bowles 18, Yap 15, Devance 15, Mallari 9, Barroca 8, Pingris 3, Najorda 2, De Ocampo 2, Gaco 0, Ponferada 0.
GLOBALPORT 84—David 27, Aguilar 21, Mercado 19, Williams 11, Yee 3, Lingganay 2, Salvador 1, Miller 0, Deutchman 0, Mandani 0, Adducul 0.
Quarters: 27-15, 46-33, 68-56, 91-84