Second unit key in San Mig Coffee’s rout of Globalport

James Mays of San Mig Coffee (dark) vs Kelly Nabong and Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—San Mig Coffee picked up where it left off with a dominant 91-75 win over Globalport in its 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup debut Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Mixers, fresh off a second straight title after winning the Philippine Cup crown just a little over two weeks ago, rode on a blistering second quarter behind their second unit before fending off several Batang Pier fightbacks along the way.

“I think we’re a little different last time around. I think the championship hangover came last conference. This time the guys came back and are injury-free,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.

“The key is really our second group. I think that’s why we didn’t show championship hangover because the second group was really eager to come out and play,” Cone added.

Rookie Ian Sangalang led San Mig Coffee with 16 points off-the-bench, 11 coming in the pivotal second period where the Mixers outscored their opponents, 31-12, to build a 47-32 advantage at halftime.

San Mig Coffee pulled away with Sangalang, Mark Barroca, Alex Mallari, Rafi Reavis and Justin Melton on the floor.

The Batang Pier, who have yet to win in three outings, got to within eight twice in the fourth quarter with the last one coming at the 6:13 mark of the fourth quarter, 72-80, early thanks to their hardworking import Evan Brock.

But the Mixers took everything the Batang Pier, who dug themselves a huge hole with 22 turnovers, would throw.

An easy layup by PJ Simon, who leaked out after RR Garcia missed a trey, started San Mig Coffee’s game-sealing 11-3 run before a Marc Pingris baseline hook put the game away, 86-72, with 3:26 remaining.

Pingris finished with a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with five assists, two steals and a block. Import James Mays had 15 points and six rebounds but was in foul trouble majority of the game.

“He had his moments but you haven’t seen the best of him yet,” Cone said of Mays.

Justin Melton put the exclamation point in the Mixers’ rousing return with a breakaway reverse dunk in the final 41.5 ticks of the game.

Brock led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed a game-high 28 rebounds. His efforts though were put to waste as Globalport, which failed to hit a 3-pointer in 17 attempts, reeled to a 0-3 start.