Big Bowles of Fire: Denzel bails Mixers out anew

MANILA, Philippines – Denzel Bowles is simply clutch. 

Bowles was struggling and appeared headed to his worst game offensively this conference until he exploded for the final six points of the San Mig Coffee Mixers.

None was bigger than his game winning jumper over the outstretched hands of Robert Dozier in the final six seconds to carry the Mixers to a grind-it-out 71-69 victory against the hard-luck Alaska Aces in Game One of their best-of-five semifinal series.

Bowles’ recent clutch performance reminded the fans why he is the reigning Best Import.

Bowles has been clutch ever since he buried two pressure-packed free throws in the dying seconds of Game Seven in last season’s Commissioner’s Cup Finals that sent it into overtime. Bowles then scored all but two of his team's points in the extra time to win the crown against the Talk n Text Tropang Texters.

The 6-10 import also bailed Mixers out when they faced elimination in Game Two of their race-to-two quarterfinal series against Meralco.  Bowles played like a monster in that game delivering 23 of his 35 points in the second half unlike in this game where he struggled to get his shots.  

“Denzel is a big game guy. He’s a big moment guy. He knows how to step up in big moments,” said Cone of his sweet-shooting import who will turn 24 on May 1.

Bowles laid a big fat egg in the opening quarter and bled for only three points in the next 12 minutes against the stifling defense of the Aces.

“I don’t care what happens in the beginning of the game. I just want to close the game. My team looks for me to do that,” Bowles later told Philstar.com in the locker room after the game.

Bowles was 5-of-11 from the floor until his final three shots.  He ended up with 12 and 13 boards on top of six assists and three blocks in a match-up against Dozier, his biggest threat to his reign as Best Import.

“In the last minute of the game, I finally got it going,” Bowles said. “We made a timeout and I told coach (Tim) that I wanted the ball there in the elbow. Then Dozier came out kind of slow and I got it to my side and pray that it went in.”

Bowles’ heroics preserved the Mixers' perfect record (9-0) against Cone’s former team.