ALLAN THE MAN

The quest to win the 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup is down to two teams. 

Check out the schedule of the finals series between the San Mig Coffee Mixers and the Petron Blaze Boosters below.

Management of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters is still trying to secure a new deal with starting center Beau Belga, but is open to making a trade if they could not agree to terms on a new contract.

“Kung masyadong malaki yung hihingin niya baka hindi namin kayanin,” Rain or Shine team executive Mamerto Mondragon told InterAKTV in an exclusive interview.

Belga helped the Elasto Painters win the Governors’ Cup in 2012 and finish runner-up in the 2013 Philippine Cup. His status as one of the top big men in the PBA was underscored when he was selected to be part of the Gilas Pilipinas national pool, ending up as the last man cut from the team that competed in the FIBA Asia Championship.

The Petron Blaze Boosters rained down three-pointers on Rain or Shine for a blistering 110-89 victory on Monday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum to make their return to the finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.

“We’re living the dream,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla. “This is a very good opportunity for us.”

Elijah Millsap broke out of his two-game slump to score 34 points, Marcio Lassiter added 27, while Alex Cabagnot had 23 for Petron, which wrapped up the semifinals series, 3-1.

Petron sizzled from beyond the arc, making 14-of-27 three-pointers for a 51.9 percent clip.

TWO league governors were quick to play down a reported spat at the sidelines of the heated match between San Mig Coffee and Meralco in the PBA Governors Cup semifinals on Sunday night.

Witnesses said Meralco board representative Ramon Segismundo and San Mig governor Rene Pardo exchanged angry gestures during one controversial play just before halftime in the Mixers' 79-73 victory in Game Four.

Segismundo, who is the incoming league chairman, admitted he made gestures towards the San Mig bench but said it was not directed at any member of the team but at a referee which Pardo and Mixers coach Tim Cone were talking to at that time.

THE SCORES:

San Mig Coffee 79 - Blakely 23, Yap 19, Pingris 16, Barroca 7, Mallari 4, Devance 4, Acuna 3, Simon 3, Reavis 0.

Meralco 73 - West 22, Cardona 13, Hugnatan 13, Ross 9, Dillinger 6, Salvacion 6, Cortez 4, Hodge 0, Wilson 0, 

QUARTERS: 27-16, 45-38, 66-56, 79-73

IF Barangay Ginebra hits the jackpot and gets the top pick overall in the 2013 PBA rookie draft, team coaches and officials are 'almost unanimous' in choosing Ian Sangalang over seven-footer Greg Slaughter.

That is, unless Bobby Parks changes the Gin Kings' plans.

A team insider said Ginebra coaches and officials, except for one or two exceptions, prefer to draft the versatile and mobile Sangalang if the team gets to dip its hands into the draft pool ahead of everybody else.

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters weren’t about ready to give up their Governors’ Cup crown just yet.

The defending champions rallied back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit for a 92-87 victory over the Petron Blaze Boosters in Game Three of their best-of-five semifinals series.

“We just avoided the embarrassment of being swept,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who didn’t arrive at the game until the second quarter after being stuck in traffic on the way to the venue.

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.

June Mar Fajardo dominated down low, finishing with a career-high 26 points and 14 rebounds to carry the Petron Blaze Boosters to a pulsating 90-88 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game Two of their Governors’ Cup semifinals series on Wednesday at Cuneta Astrodome.

The rookie big man from Cebu scored 14 points, including three dunks, in the third quarter, allowing the Boosters to take command against the shorthanded Elasto Painters.

Petron was still up by nine points, 89-80, with less than two minutes left before Rain or Shine came roaring back. The Elasto Painters were within a single point after a putback by Beau Belga with 7.7 seconds left.

The Meralco Bolts figured in another defensive slugfest against the San Mig Coffee Mixers, but this time came out on top with a 73-69 victory on Tuesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

With the win, the Bolts tied the series at 1-all. Meralco used a balanced attack to win its first final four game in franchise history, with five players finishing in double-figures. Mario West struggled from the field anew, scoring 17 points but going just 8-of-36 (22 percent) from the field.

The Alaska Aces season may have come to an end, but import Wendell McKines is not yet done playing hoops. On Tuesday, he posted a video of him playing basketball in a street court near his home.

“The love for basketball here is strong and pure. I remember riding to practice and seeing people outside playing either bare footed or wearing sandals, looking as if they were having a good time,” he wrote on his blog.

Elijah Millsap scored 41 points, including 11 straight during a stretch in the fourth quarter, to carry the Petron Blaze Boosters to a 91-83 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Monday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Point laureate Ronnie Magsanoc may have proven a point that will secure his bosom buddy’s distinct place in PBA history.

Magsanoc said that for top rookie and MVP candidate Calvin Abueva to have a shot at basketball immortality, it is imperative for his Alaska Aces to achieve a strong finish in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup.

Meralco rookie Cliff Hodge on Sunday night quickly disowned a tweet that called for the resignation of Bolts coach Ryan Gregorio, saying his Twitter account was hacked.

The Twitter world went ablaze shortly after the Bolts’ 83-73 loss to San Mig in Game One of their PBA Governors Cup semifinal series (watch full game replay video here) when a tweet fired from Hodge’s account.

National University (NU) superstar Bobby Ray Parks needs time to think about his next move after he and the Bulldogs were ousted by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 76 tournament.

The Bulldogs were the top-seeded team and had twice-to-beat advantage, but they ran into an inspired UST team who made history by becoming the first fourth-seed in the Final Four era to topple the No. 1 team.

“It sucks to lose,” a subdued Parks told reporters after they lost 69-76 to UST last Saturday. “But hey, they showed up, they played tough, and they played their type of basketball. So congratulations to them.”

The San Mig Coffee Mixers used tough defense to go on a late run to get away from the Meralco Bolts, 83-73, in the opening game of their best-of-five semifinals series on Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

It was a tight defensive struggle between the two teams for most of the game, with Meralco behind by only a single point midway through the fourth quarter, 70-69, after a desperation three-pointer by John Wilson to beat the 24-second buzzer.

Former Barangay Ginebra import Donald Sloan is looking forward to his return to the Philippines, this time as a member of the Indiana Pacers.

Sloan, who played for Ginebra in the 2011 Governors’ Cup, was signed by the Pacers this off-season and will be with the team when they visit Manila on October 10 with the Houston Rockets in the first ever pre-season game to be played in the country.

HIS closest pursuers for the season MVP award are falling by the wayside one by one, but Petron star forward Arwind Santos would rather not dwell on winning the coveted individual trophy and instead focus on guiding the Boosters to a championship in the PBA Governors Cup.

Bagging the MVP award would be a blessing, Santos acknowledged, although at the moment his attention is on Petron’s semifinal series against defending champion Rain or Shine that starts on Monday.

LA Tenorio plunged straight into action for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Governors’ Cup without taking a break after helping Gilas Pilipinas win a silver medal in the FIBA Asia Championship.

With the Gin Kings’ campaign coming to an end, Tenorio is finally getting a well-deserved break.

Despite Ginebra’s early exit, the cerebral point guard remains one of the top contenders for the season’s Most Valuable Player award. An automatic nominee after winning Best Player of the Conference in the Commissioner’s Cup, he has stepped up his game in this tournament, playing a string of stellar games that helped boost his case.

SAN Mig Coffee star James Yap has vowed not to let Alaska rookie Calvin Abueva get on his nerves, hours before the two teams renew their rivalry in the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals.

Yap and Abueva have had much publicized skirmishes in the past, the last in the Commissioner's Cup semifinals that degenerated into a war of words and dragged Yap's teammate Marc Pingris into the fray.