San Mig Coffee gains solo lead, pins Ginebra its 1st loss

Marqus Blakely of San Mig (dark) vs Japeth Aguilar of Ginebra (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines —San Mig Coffee took Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s best punch before delivering its own in a 102-90 win in the 2014 PBA Governors’ Cup Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Mixers applied unrelenting pressure in the fourth quarter that broke open what was once a tied game after three periods while the Kings seemed as if they had no idea what hit them.

“I felt they pretty much dominated the game for three quarters and we were just trying to hang on and then in the fourth quarter, we were able to pickup the pressure, get some free throws and when we got free throws that allowed us to setup our pressure defense and we kind of let the dogs out,” San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone told reporters after his team gained the early lead in the standings at 4-1 while also pinning Ginebra its first loss in five games.

“We were experienced in what we do and we know what’s difficult for them and we exploited that,” said Cone. “Our experience took over there in the fourth quarter, they got rattled with our defense.”

Marqus Blakely scored 15 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 points in a telling 16-0 blast by San Mig Coffee in a four-minute span that put the game away with the Mixers taking a 94-79 lead with 3:45 left.

Blakely also had six steals and went to the line 19 times and made 14 free throws as he outplayed his counterpart Zaccheus Mason, who scored 18 points and 12 rebounds but was a non-factor in the fourth quarter.

“For us this game was just trying to get to first place. Trying to stay amongst the leaders
that’s what we talked about. Obviously this is an up-and-coming team Ginebra and we hope they stay up-and-coming for a while. Let them get to the top in the next conference or so,” Cone added. “This conference we’re still battling for it. As I often say to our team ‘it’s still our time.'”

The game marked the first time Cone and his student and first-time head coach Jeffrey Cariaso went head-to-head since the Kings tapped the former Alaska guard as mentor before the start of the conference.

“I’m real proud of Jeff and what he’s doing over there,” said Cone of his former assistant. “If you are patient as a group, I’m talking about the Ginebra group, if you are patient Jeffrey’s going to do special things for you.”

PJ Simon added 19 points while Mark Barroca had 11 points for the Mixers.

Mark Caguioa also had 18 points for Ginebra, which had 20 turnovers, several coming at the time San Mig Coffee applied its full-court pressure.

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