So much has been said about how the big men will dominate this side of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.

More so, the hype concerning the point guards centered practically on LA Tenorio and left everyone else unnoticed.

Mark Barroca and rookie Justin Melton did something about that Sunday night and became the biggest stories for San Mig Coffee in taking a 2-1 lead over Barangay Ginebra in their best-of-seven Final Four series.

The 5-foot-10 Barroca and Melton – who stands an inch shorter – were the biggest performers in the fourth period, leading San Mig to a 97-89 victory over the dumbfounded Gin Kings and their hulking frontline before 19,353 screaming souls at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Barroca scored nine of his career-high 25 points, delivering the most crucial blows on the Kings in the fourth period, while Melton drained a huge triple when the game hung in the balance as the Mixers bounced back from a horrid Game 2 loss to regain control of the series.

“I guess we deserved a good game because the last game wasn’t pretty,” coach Tim Cone of San Mig said, referring to a lopsided loss on Friday that made the Gin Kings the overwhelming Game 3 favorites.

“Getting beat so badly (in Game 2), our guys came out with a lot of character tonight.”

Barroca and Melton did not only score, but they also combined for nine of the Mixers’ 14 rebounds in the fourth period as the shorter Mixers controlled the paint in that span with the 7-foot Greg Slaughter and the 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar collaring down just five boards.

“I felt we did a great job of pushing the ball down the court in the fourth period,” Cone continued. “Greg (Slaughter) and Japeth (Aguilar) tired out in the fourth quarter and seeing that, we pushed it even harder.”

San Mig started out hot and zoomed to leads of as many as 11 points in the first half as Peter June Simon, Pingris and former two-time MVP James Yap also hit their marks like Barroca, who scored 10 of his total in the first two periods.

But egged on by the overflow crowd, the Gin Kings fought back and managed to take a 47-46 led at the half before shooting just 42 points in the final two periods to come crashing back down to reality.

A big letdown for Ginebra was Aguilar, who didn’t reach double figures until a free throw and an unmolested layup with the game already decided in the dying seconds. He finished with just 12 points and 3-for-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 from the free throw line.

Game 4 of this series is Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao and Cone welcomes the rather long break.

“I think we were a bit tired mentally,” Cone said.

Simon finished with 19 point, Pingris had 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists with Yap chipping in 13 despite an injured right arm.

The loss was a bitter one to swallow for Slaughter, the top overall pick in this season’s rookie pool who delivered a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds. He was also the big reason why the Kings were able to come back in the first half.

From a shaky 83-80 lead, the Mixers dropped a 10-2 bomb highlighted by triples from Barroca and Melton as San Mig took a 93-82 lead going into the final 1:55. Barroca capped that run with his first triple of the series.

Meanwhile, Petron Blaze guns for the equalizer against Rain or Shine Monday when Game 4 of the other Final Four is played also at the Big Dome in Cubao.