Yap snaps slump, San Mig crushes Talk 'N Text 118-99

James Yap finally got in the groove, and so did San Mig Coffee.
Finding a severely short-handed Talk ‘N Text crew as an easy prey, the Mixers ran the Tropang Texters to the ground to post their first victory in the PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations, a 118-99 shellacking Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Yap broke out of a two-game slump to fire 21 points and Marqus Blakely missed a triple double by just two assists after firing 24 points and grabbing 17 rebounds as the Mixers snapped a two-game skid.
The loss was the first in two games for the Texters, who still played without Gilas Pilipinas stalwarts Jason Castro, Larry Fonacier, Ranidel De Ocampo and former MVP Jimmy Alapag.
One hero for Gilas Pilipinas that returned to his mother team was Marc Pingris for San Mig, and the usually defense-oriented power forward was a monster on the other end and finished with 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting from two-point zone and 11-of-12 from the stripe.
Allein Maliksi, the new acquisition for the Mixers, was the fourth and last man in twin digits for coach Tim Cone, shooting 10 in 17 minutes of action for the third team in his very young pro career.
“We caught Talk ‘N Text at a really good time – bad for them,” Cone told reporters later. “We were coming off two losses and on a regular night (against a complete team) we might have let up.
“James (Yap) got open early and he got going early,” he continued. “The other guys tried getting James open. We didn’t talk about it (before the game), they just did.”
Yap came into the game shooting just a combined points in the first two San Mig contests, having made just a field goal each game.
Last night, Yap was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, 5-of-8 from two-point zone and made both free throws in a solid 27-minute stint.
Import Tony Mitchell paced the Texters with 38 points and 12 rebounds and Sean Anthony tossed in 21, but a 39-21 gap right after the first period was simply too much for Talk ‘N Text – without its stars – to overcome.
Castro and company have been given leaves in their first three games, and because the Texters should have played last Wednesday when the games were canceled because of Typhoon Maring, they could be back for the next game.
Meanwhile, Barako Bull roared to its second straight victory earlier in the night after getting a second straight sterling game from 5-foot-6 point guard Emman Monfort in a 103-94 win over Air21 that was tainted in the dying minutes because of what Express coach Franz Pumaren said was a breach in etiquette coming from Energy consultant Rajko Toroman.
Monfort tossed in 12 points and hit the game’s most crucial triple entering the dying minutes as it doused cold water on a searing charge from the Express, who chopped an imposing 20-point deficit to just three.
And with the outcome already beyond doubt with 25 seconds remaining, Toroman elected to call a timeout, which irked Pumaren.
“There was a misunderstanding at the end of the game. But I didn’t intend to insult anyone when I called that timeout,” Toroman explained. “I don’t know why they are reacting like this, this is the first time in my 25 years of coaching that someone reacted like this.”
Toroman and Pumaren shook hands at centercourt after the final buzzer, but the outspoken Pumaren didn’t let the incident pass.
“It’s not right,” Pumaren said. “I’d like to see him try to do that to other coaches like Yeng (Guiao) and see what happens. He has Filipino assistants and he’ll know that we don’t do that here.”