THE SAN MIG Coffee Mixers hit two birds with one stone when they stunned the top ranked Barangay Ginebra Kings in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series of the 39th PBA Philippine Cup.
Not only did they steal the win from the Kings, the Coffee Mixers were also able to rest key players Peter June Simon and James Yap, who didn’t play at all in the final period.
The benching allowed the two prolific players to get some needed rest, making the Coffee Mixers more dangerous when they take on the Kings Friday night for Game 2 of the race-to-four battle at 8 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum.
“That can’t get any better than that. No one got far enough from anybody and we’re just able to escape with the win,” said San Mig coach Tim Cone after their thrilling 85-83 victory Tuesday night.
Mark Barroca starred in that win, nailing a tough jumper in the final 11.6 seconds.
The Kings shot themselves in the foot when Mac Baracael committed a crucial inbound pass that led to Barroca’s game-winning basket.
Interestingly, Cone benched Simon and Yap in the fourth and went for the combination of Barroca and rookie Justin Melton. Melton didn’t disappoint as he scored seven of his eight points in the decisive fourth period./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA
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