Mixers’ small men dwarf Kings, lead 2-1

MANILA, Philippines - San Mig Coffee repeated its Game One win, its small guards Mark Barroca and Justin Melton doing the job against Barangay Ginebra’s tall men to score a 97-89 victory for the 2-1 lead in their PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena last night.

Barroca and Melton emerged as San Mig’s surprise package at endgame as the Mixers ran Ginebra’s Twin Towers Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar and the rest of the Gin Kings to the ground to regain the series lead, 2-1, going to Game Four on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine, its 10-game streak snapped in the last Petron Blaze Saturday Special at the MOA Arena, hopes to get back on track right away, going for the pivotal 3-1 lead versus Petron Blaze in Game Four of their own semis duel at 8 tonight, also at the Big Dome.

“We’re still ahead in the series. We’re looking at things positively,” said Rain or Shine coach

Yeng Guiao after their 73-106 blowout loss in Game Three.

The Mixers recovered from a shattering 29-point defeat in Game Two, starting and finishing strong on classic moves by coach Tim Cone.

Shifting to a tall starting unit of Rafi Reavis, Joe Devance, Marc Pingris, James Yap and PJ Simon, the Mixers seized the early initiative, an early double-digit lead at 16-6 and a 25-17 cushion at the end of the opening period.

Then at the finish, the Mixers beat the Kings with a quick five of Barroca, Melton, Simon, Pingris and Ian Sangalang.

“We deserved a good game as last game was a blowout. Too good, it was a really nice game,” said Cone.

“We’re worried we’re a little tired mentally, but we got great contributions down the stretch. James, PJ, Ping, Rafi and Joe set the tone for us and Justin and Ian picked it up in the fourth,” Cone also said.

Barroca came through with a career-best 25 points while Melton pumped in two big treys, and together they starred in San Mig’s decisive endgame flurry, effectively cutting Slaughter and Aguilar down to size.

Also with Simon, Pingris and Devance in there, the Mixers made a key run to expand a slim 83-80 lead to 11 points in the stretch.

As Barroca fired away his first three-pointer in the series, the Mixers took their first 11-point spread at 93-82 with 1:55 left to play.

There was no stopping the Mixers from taking the crucial win from there.

Proving to be a big blow for the Kings were the ejection of small forward Mac Baracael early in the third quarter.

Going down the drain was Slaughter’s career-best output of 29 points.

LA Tenorio knocked in a prayer of a three-pointer as the Kings seized a 47-46 lead at the half, and Melton also made a trey to close the third period with the Mixers ahead at 71-68.

Slaughter carried much of the load early on, aggressively attacking San Mig’s post defense as the Kings erased two 15-point deficits – 21-6 and 23-8 – in the opening quarter.