With bated breath, the San Mig Coffee Mixers watched Arizona Reid let loose a triple.
The shot fell way short and the Coffee Mixers completed a historic feat.
San Mig survived Rain or Shine’s gallant stand to pull off a 92-89 win and bag the championship crown of the 39th PBA Governors’ Cup crown before a crowd of more than 23,000 at the Araneta Coliseum, last night.
Wrapping up the best-of-five series, 3-2, San Mig became the fifth team to win a grand slam after Crispa (twice), San Miguel Beer and Alaska Milk.
It was the Coffee Mixers’ 13th title in franchise history and seventh in an import-laden conference.
Achieving a tremendous feat was San Mig coach Tim Cone, who added another feather on his cap.
The American mentor is already the league’s winningest coach with 18 crowns and now the only coach with two grand slams after leading Alaska to such feat in 1996.
The triumph, however, didn’t come easy as the Coffee Mixers had to withstood the Elasto Painters’ gutsy effort.
San Mig looked headed to pulling off an easy win when it broke the game apart in the third period where they made a killing from the free throw stripe, going 13-for-15 to build a 69-53 lead.
San Mig was able to build the cushion partly because of Reid’s absence after the reigning Best Import awardee was forced to sit down due to a sprained ankle.
The Painters had that 16-point deficit cut when Reid returned and the dread-locked import made instant impact by scoring nine points in a 17-4 run that shoved the Painters within 70-73, going into the fourth.
San Mig again threatened to pull away when it surged to an 88-79 lead in the final 4:09 but Rain or Shine refused to go away as Reid’s layup cut the Coffee Mixers’ lead with 1:32 left.
San Mig Coffee’s Peter June Simon and Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee battle for the rebound in last night’s Game 5 of the 39th PBA Governors’ Cup finals. (INQUIRER PHOTO)
Rain or Shine had a chance to tie the contest but Reid and Paul Lee couldn’t convert from three-point land.
James Yap, who exploded for 29 points, couldn’t close the game right away when he muffed two free throws.
But Rain or Shine also failed to capitalize on Yap’s errors as Chan and Lee missed successive three-point shots.
San Mig again kept the window of opportunity open for Rain or Shine when Mark Barroca bungled his two free shots with 6.2 ticks left.
Rain or Shine went to their import in the game’s final play but Reid misfired a triple as time ran out.
Yap went on to win the Finals MVP award after averaging 16.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 asists in the tightly fought series.
Though slowed down by his injury, Reid still led the Elasto Painters with 23 markers.
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