San Mig edges Petron to level series in PBA finals

Coach Tim Cone couldn’t talk after this one, and with good reason.
The usually outspoken American mentor struggled to find the words after San Mig Coffee lost a 28-point lead and was dragged into a wild endgame by Petron before prevailing, 88-86, for a 2-2 score in their PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I don’t even know if I can talk,”
Cone, hoarse and all, told reporters after the tightrope win, one which his Mixers needed badly in order not to fall into a 1-3 hole against the most talented team in the league.
“Like I said in the last game, a one-point win is the same as a 30-point win,” Cone added told reporters after using just an eight-man rotation and getting six to score at least 11 points.
“They (Boosters) are such an explosive team and they showed it (tonight),” Cone added. “They can come back that hard and that fast.”
San Mig had to weather a whirlwind Petron comeback that started in the third period, as a 49-21 lead early in the second was whittled down to just 67-63 entering the fourth after Elijah Millsap carried the Boosters on his shoulders.
Millsap scored 17 points in that quarter, two more than what the entire San Mig crew was able to account for, as the Boosters made a game out of it before eventually leading, 77-73, heading into the final 6:25.
And it was Mark Barroca who provided the crucial baskets for the Mixers, scoring five straight points to erase that deficit before capping a spurt with two free throws that broke the game’s last tie at 83 going into the last 21.9 seconds.
“I’m not thinking clearly right now,” Cone continued. “All I know is that we are happy to be at 2-2 at this point.”
Cone played just eight men, but got six of them tossing in twin digits with Marqus Blakely leading the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Marc Pingris also finished with a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards.
Millsap wound up with 33 points, 11 board, six steals four assists and a block, while June Mar Fajardo, who lost the Rookie of the Year race to Alaska’s Calvin Abueva earlier, had 20 points and 26 rebounds.
Those rebounds by Fajardo were the most since Arwind Santos plucked down 28 in 2011. And he flirted with breaking the longest-standing PBA record of 29 rebounds by the late Marcelo Simbulan by having that many rebounds with still six minutes to go.
Simbulan’s mark was established all the way back in the PBA’s maiden season in 1975. He played for defunct 7-Up.
Meanwhile, Arwind Santos of Petron Blaze accepted his first Most Valuable Player award before tip-off, fighting off tears in a speech over national television where he recounted his journey from the bottom of society to the top of professional caging.
“I worked as a car wash help, a pedicab driver, an orchid vendor and pushed a makeshift cart as a kid to get by,” Santos addressed the crowd in the native tongue after nipping Barangay Ginebra point guard LA Tenorio in the closest MVP race in league history.
“This award adds color to my life,”
Santos continued. “This award also proves that even if you are poor, you can achieve all your dreams.”
The 6-foot-6 Santos, who has been contending for the MVP award for the last six seasons, tallied 2,840 points after winning the statistical points race and narrowly winning the media votes.
Tenorio, who finished second in the SP race and won the Best Player award in the Commissioner’s Cup where the Gin Kings finished second to Alaska, was 19 points short after topping the media votes and getting the nod from the Commissioner’s Office.
Santos, Tenorio and the third candidate, Jason Castro of Talk ‘N Text, automatically made it to the Mythical First Team along with Rookie of the Year Calvin Abueva of Alaska and Ranidel de Ocampo of Talk ‘N Text.
And after also being named to the All-Defensive Team, Santos became just the fourth player in the 38-year-old league to earn inclusions to the Mythical and All-Defensive teams while winning the MVP on the same year.
Johnny Abarrientos, the first ex-Tamaraw from Far Eastern to win the award before Santos, first pulled out the trick in Alaska’s Grand Slam year of 1996 before Asi Taulava and Kelly Williams did the same in the 2003 and 2008 seasons, respectively.