2014 PBA Governors Cup Semifinals: Mixers and Painters set Finals date!

Top: The Mixers advanced to their fourth PBA Finals in a row after
eliminating the Texters in Game 5.
Bottom: The Painters survived a physical and tight match to return
to the Govs' Cup Finals after missing it in 2013.

Game notes:
- James Yap has a habit of springing his biggest performances on the biggest stages, and he did it again in Game 5, hitting 5 triples on his way to 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

- Marqus Blakely finally dropped a good game after underplaying in SMC’s past two matches. Blakely scored 21 markers and hauled down 16 boards as the Mixers remain on-track for the Grand Slam.

- One silver lining of TNT’s loss is that its Gilas players — Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Larry Fonacier, and Ranidel De Ocampo — will now be available for training and for playing in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup.

- Paul Lee and Jeff Chan both hit big shots as ROS booked its second Finals appearance this season, and against the same foe at that! Lee ended up with 10 points while Chan pocketed a pedestrian 5 markers.

- AZ Reid was the biggest reason the Painters won here, hitting 11/20 from the floor to finish with 35 markers, 10 caroms, and 5 dimes. This is the second time in three seasons that ROS has made the Govs’ Cup Finals as they won it in 2012.

- Props to Alaska, however, because they kept this game really close despite missing injured key players JV Casio, Gabby Espinas, and Sonny Thoss.

Game recaps by Rey Joble/InterAKTV:

SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE over TALK N TEXT, 93-87

San Mig Coffee kept its hopes of chasing a historic Grand Slam alive after formalizing its entry into the finals with a 93-87 win over Talk ‘N Text in Game Five of their PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup semifinal series on Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

With the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup titles already in hands, the Mixers have a chance of joining the elite group of teams that have swept all three PBA conferences in the span of one season.

James Yap scored a team-high 25 points and Mark Barroca added 17, including 15 in the fourth, to help San Mig Coffee close out a tough series with Talk ‘N Text.

San Mig Coffee import Marqus Blakely added 21 points and 16 rebounds while Joe Devance finished with a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

They needed to stave off a tremendous performance by Talk ‘N Text import Paul Harris in the endgame.

Harris, who led all scorers with 3 scored the last 18 of the Tropang Texters’ points as they cut a double-digit deficit down to as low as four but Barroca made enough of his free throws to keep their foes at bay.

San Mig Coffee scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter – all of them from Barroca – to extend their lead to 14 points, 69-55, before Blakey scored five of the Mixers’ next seven points to keep their advantage in double figures.

Yap then looked like he would put the game away with a booming three-pointer and, after a long bomb from Ranidel De Ocampo on the other end, another pullup jumper from the midrange for an 83-69 lead.

Harris answered with eight unanswered points but could not overcome the lead with the Mixers proving steady at the free throw line.

San Mig Coffee looked good early, outscoring Talk ‘N Text 12-4 to start the game.

But the Tropang Texters made sure this was not going to be a runaway in the opening minutes, answering with eight straight points to tie the game.

The contest was tight for much of a defensive first half that saw Talk ‘N Text score just 38 points and San Mig Coffee with 37.

Yap, though, kickstarted a huge San Mig Coffee rally in the third quarter. The two-time MVP scored seven consecutive points on a pair of his familiar one-handed runners and booming three-pointer.

The Mixers pounded the ball to Blakely, Joe Devance and Marc Pingris in the post as they went on a 21-7 run that swung the ballgame decidedly in their favor,

They led by as much as 10 points, 60-50, after a Simon three-pointer before settling for a seven-point lead, 62-55, at the end of the third.

SMC 93 – Yap 25, Blakely 21, Barroca 17, Devance 11, Pingris 10, Simon 7, Sanggalang 2, Taha 0, Melton 0, Reavis 0, Hoilstein 0, Mallari 0, Gaco 0, Maliksi 0, Matias 0.
TNT 87 – Harris 40, De Ocampo 13, Castro 11, Seigle 8, Espiritu 7, Fonacier 4, Williams 2, Rob Reyes 2, Alapag 0, Carey 0, Baclao 0, Canaleta 0, Ryan Reyes 0, Aban 0.
QS: 21-20, 37-38, 62-55, 93-87.

James Yap dropped another huge game for SMC.

Mark Barroca dropped some big shots to sink TNT.

Not even Paul Harris's 40 points could tow the
Texters to a Game 5 W.

RAIN OR SHINE over ALASKA, 97-94

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters booked a return trip to finals after edging Alaska, 97-94, in a hotly-contested do-or-die Game Five to close out their PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup semis series on Saturday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine, which faced San Mig Coffee in the finals of the Philippine Cup earlier this year, will have a chance to get some revenge against the Mixers in the rematch.

Import Arizona Reid scored 35 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists and was one of several Rain or Shine players to hit big shots in the clutch.

Paul Lee finished with just 10 points while Jeff Chan struggled with five markers.

With their usual local scorers struggling to find the bottom of the net, it was up to Reid to carry the scoring load early.

Chan and Lee, along with Reid, made some big baskets down the stretch to lift the Elasto Painters to the win.

They also got a lift from unlikely sources with Gabe Norwood, who is recovering from an injury, scoring 10 points and reserves Larry Rodriguez and Jonathan Uyloan each chipping in with eight.

Rain or Shine looked like it was ready to formalize its entry into the finals after breaking an 82-all deadlock with a 6-0 run, capped by Chan’s first basket of the game.

But Alaska wasn’t about to roll over, responding with five unanswered points to come back to within one, 88-87, with 4:20 remaining.

They had an answer to everything Alaska threw at them, though, with Chan knocking down a three, Reid scoring on an uncontested layup and Lee finishing on a tough drive to respond to baskets from the Aces down the stretch.

Walker gave Alaska one last gasp with a three-pointer that got the Aces to within one, 95-94, with 23 seconds remaining.

They almost caused a Rain or Shine turnover but Lee was the first to the loose ball and took care of two free throws to seal the win.

The Aces played with a short-handed lineup with Gabby Espinas expected to miss three to five months with a fractured right ankle and both Sonny Thoss and JVee Casio sitting out with some injuries as well.

Reid caught fire early on, scoring 16 big points in the first quarter as the Elasto Painters took a 29-25 advantage after the first 12 mintues.

The second quarter saw some chippy moments after Alaska guard Raffy Reyes was ejected for accumulating both a technical and a flagrant foul a few minutes apart.

Reyes caught Chris Tiu with an elbow to the face that was called for just a regular foul. Jonathan Uyloan entered the game for Tiu and jawed with Reyes as the pair received double techs.

He was then sent off after slipping his foot into Uyloan’s landing spot after contesting a jumper,

Dondon Hontiveros then caught fire, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers and then another about a minute later to give Alaska a 48-41 lead.

But Rain or Shine closed the half with a 14-4 run to take a slim lead at the half.

Hontiveros had five three-pointers at the half.

Reid went back to work in the third, scoring 12 markers including a stretch of eight straight Rain or Shine points late in the period, to up his scoring total to 33 – one more than in his team’s Game Four win – with a whole quarter left to play.

Alaska import Henry Walker had 29 points while Vic Manuel posted a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

ROS 97 – Reid 35, Lee 10, Norwood 10, Uyloan 8, Rodriguez 8, Arana 5, Chan 5, Belga 4, Almazan 4, Cruz 3, Tiu 3, Ibanes 2, Teng 0.
ALA 94 – Walker 29, Manuel 20, Hontiveros 17, Baguio 11, Abueva 9, Dela Cruz 5, Jazul 3, Reyes 0, Belasco 0, Eman 0.
QS: 29-25, 55-52, 80-77, 97-94.