Mixers keep grandslam hopes alive, oust Texters for finals return

MANILA, Philippines – San Mig Coffee fought Talk n Text on even terms through the first 28 minutes before pounding a slight opening to seize control en route to a 93-87 win Friday night that put the Mixers in a position to possibly complete a rare PBA grand slam championship.

The Mixers might have missed a series sweep but not the series itself, beating out the Texters in their do-or-die fight for a spot in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors Cup best-of-five finals before a crowd of over 12,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Mixers once again eased out the Texters in a playoff matchup and in the process got a shot at a Governors Cup title repeat and a dream grand slam.

Rain or Shine and Alaska Milk, engaged in a fierce rivalry of their own for quite some time now, slug it out in their own sudden death at 5 p.m. Saturday, disputing the right to challenge San Mig Coffee in the best-of-five finale starting Tuesday.

“Our dream is still alive remarkably,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.

“It wasn’t the best down-the-stretch game that we had to protect the game. It’s disappointing the way we played but you can’t argue with the result. Frankly, I don’t know how we won it,” Cone also said, downplaying their effort.

James Yap, Joe Devance, Marc Barroca and Marqus Blakely all came through with big games as the Mixers overcame Paul Harris’ 40-point explosion to gain a shot at a Triple Crown following their conquests of Rain or Shine in the Philippine Cup Finals and Talk n Text in the Commissioner’s Cup championship.

Counting their title run in the 2013 Governors Cup, the Mixers chase a “Four-Peat” versus the Elasto Painters or the Aces.

“One step to go for the grand slam and it’s truly amazing that we’re still here. No time to appreciate things though as either Rain or Shine or Alaska is coming up,” said Cone.

“Rain or Shine is a contra-pelo. We lost to them in the 2012 Governors Cup finals. We also had our history with Alaska. They’re the last grand slam team. It’s poetic, either Rain or Shine-San Mig or Alaska-San Mig is nice to write about,” Cone also said.

The Mixers kept their grand slam dream alive as they made a key run to seize control in the third quarter and held on to make a fourth straight finals and 27th in franchise history.

Yap, Devance and Barroca made a big difference with Yap coming through with a team-high 25 points, including five three-pointers, Devance delivering a career-first triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Barroca scoring 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Blakely was also a huge presence with 21 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and one steal in 43 minutes of action.

Harris fought hard to salvage the game for the Texters, but the Mixers hung tough largely through the efforts of Barroca, Blakely and Yap.

Blakely and PJ Simon nailed a three-pointer each in the crucial run that the Mixers made to open a first double-digit spread at 60-50 before closing the third quarter at 62-55.

Then Barroca took over as San Mig Coffee enjoyed 14-point spreads at 69-55, 78-64 and 83-69 in the final canto.