Simon leads playoff-bound Mixers’ rout of Boosters

PJ SImon of San Mig Coffee (light) vs ALex Cabagnot and Doug Kramer of Petron (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—San Mig Coffee raced to an early lead and never held back in a 112-93 drubbing of Petron Blaze to formalize its entry in the quarterfinals of the 2014 PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

PJ Simon easily scored 20 points on nine-of-14 shooting from the field to lead six Mixers in double-figure scoring with Mark Barroca and James Yap, who returned from injury, adding 19 apiece.

“As I told Gee after the game it was just our night tonight. We had everything going. We were moving the ball well and they missed easy shots,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone, referring to the Boosters head coach Gee Abanilla. “It’s just one of those nights that everything came together for us. It just came at a really good time.

“Our goal really is make it to the top six so next game is really crucial for us,” added Cone after his team climbed to fifth place with a 6-7 mark.

The Mixers zoomed to a 25-12 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game as they shot 50% while the Boosters missed 14 out of their 18 attempts from the field.

San Mig Coffee’s lead grew to 23, 43-20, after a three-point by Simon off of Chris Lutz’s foul with 4:56 remaining in the second half as Petron couldn’t recover.

San Mig Coffee had 30 assists and shot 57% from the field while converting 22 points out of Petron’s 18 turnovers.

Marcio Lassiter had 20 points for the Boosters, who fell into third place behind league-leader Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (10-2) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (10-3).

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