MANILA, Philippines – Prolific Barako Bull import Michael Singletary erupted for 38 points, including 6-of-6 three-pointers, only to commit one big booboo in the closing seconds, allowing San Mig Coffee to escape with an 81-77 decision and clinch the second spot in the PBA Governors Cup playoff phase at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday night.
San Mig Coffee beat Barako Bull in a duel of spurts for a fourth straight win and fifth in eight games overall that also guaranteed the Mixers of a playoff shot at a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
The Energy Cola engaged the Mixers in a thrilling seesawing battle, yielding in the end on a critical lapse by Singletary.
Barako Bull was running a play to force overtime when Singletary, without pressure from defender Marcus Blakely, curiously lost the ball to the sideline. He dribbled off his foot and the ball flew out of bounds.
Desperately fouled by Singletary himself, Allein Maliksi coolly sank the charities for the final count in the showdown between teams chasing automatic slot in the quarters.
With a second straight loss, Barako instead slid down to fifth place at 4-4.
“I knew going to this game, this is gonna be a tough one for us. It’s a danger game. Luckily, we caught up and got them to a drought at endgame,†said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
“Barako is a well-coached team, and I told the guys this is gonna be a hard game, much harder than we thought. You have to find a way to pull it out, and somehow they did,†Cone added.
Maliksi stepped up and helped the Mixers take the key win against his former team.
The reed-thin 6-foot-4 gunner fired 18 points and also got five rebounds, five assists and three steals, rising to the occasion as James Yap struggled for just three points on 1-of-12 field shooting.
“You can see the value of Allein. If James struggles bit, we have Allein who can go out on the floor and take over,†said Cone.
Maliksi teamed up with Marcus Blakely and Mark Barroca as they worked on a key endgame run, overhauling San Mig’s nine-point deficit, 66-75.
The Energy Cola unleashed a 17-2 roll to get that lead, then cranked out, scoring only two charities through Mark Macapagal in the last six minutes of play.
Behind a big run in a stretch bridging the first two quarters, the Mixers came from behind to take the half at 39-31.
The Mixers seized control going into the final half as they held the Energy Cola to 16.7-percent field shooting for only 11 points in the second quarter.
The Energy Cola started strong behind their starting unit of Singletary, Macapagal, Mick Pennisi, Eman Monfort and JC Intal, taking command at 20-12.
Meanwhile, Meralco also guns for an outright playoff shot at a twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals as the Bolts tangle with the Air21 Express at 4:15 p.m. today at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Globalport, welcoming the return of Kelly Nabong from a game suspension, pursues its own bid for a Top Four finish in taking on runaway leader Petron Blaze at 6:30 p.m.