ALLAN THE MAN

San Mig Coffee moved one step away from a return to the Governors’ Cup finals, and the Mixers found a most unlikely hero in Alex Mallari. The rookie guard scored a career-high 23 points, including 13 in the fourth period, to lead his team’s 94-87 win on Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

“Alex was awesome tonight,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. The Mixers caught a good break when Meralco import Mario West left with a right shoulder sprain after a foul by San Mig Coffee forward Joe Devance.

“We were fortunate that Mario went out,” said Cone. Despite playing with an all-Filipino lineup, the Bolts did not go away. They were still within striking distance trailing by two points, 81-79, when Mallari hit a three-pointer with 2:38 left.

That touched off a 7-0 run that gave San Mig Coffee an 88-79 spread with 1:25 remaining.

Four quick points for Meralco cut the lead to just four points, 88-83. Mallari made both of his free throws in the next possession to give San Mig Coffee more breathing room.

Mallari almost went from hero to goat in the next play, fouling John Wilson on a three-point basket. Wilson completed the four-point play to come within a single possession, 90-87, with 26.2 seconds left.

But Mallari atoned for it with two more free throws to ice the game for the Mixers, who took a 2-1 advantage in their best-of-five semis series.

Apart from his offensive game, Cone heaped praise on Mallari’s performance on defense.

“The best part of Alex’s game is defense,” said Cone. “People don’t always see it because he’s a rookie, but he’s such a great defender.”

Import Marqus Blakely also came up big for San Mig Coffee, stuffing the stat sheeet with 21 points, 22 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and three steals. He also performed much better from the free throw line, making 12-of-19 shots from the line.

THE SCORES:

San Mig Coffee 94 - Mallari 23, Blakely 21, Barroca 18, Yap 13, Devance 7, Pingris 4, Reavis 4, Acuna 2, Simon 2.

Meralco 87 - Cortez 15, West 13, Wilson 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 11, Dillinger 10, Salvacion 9, Cardona 3, Reyes 2, Guevarra 0, Ross 0.

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