Mixers get rich blend for another close win

MANILA, Philippines - San Mig Coffee struggled most of the way before fi nding the right mix in the payoff period, upending Globalport, 82-78, to gain a share of second place in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night. Marc Pingris, James Yap, Joe Devance and Mark Barroca clicked together in the crunch, giving the Mixers another close win following their 92-91 squeaker over the Barako Bull

Energy Cola Sunday. Pingris, Yap and Devance scored 29 of their combined

44-point output in the fi nal period while Barroca drained three crucial charities at the fi nish as San Mig Coffee caught up with Rain or Shine and Alaska Milk at second place at 4-2 behind Talk n Text’s 6-0 card. “Too tough. There are lots of tough teams out there that you just can’t walk on the court and win a basketball

game,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. “It’s not easy. Teams supposedly on top are fi nding it tough to win. (As for teams like) Barako and Globalport,

their records don’t refl ect how well they’re playing,” Cone added.

Globalport dropped another close match and slid to 1-6. “We used to compete for only the fi rst 45 minutes of the game. Now we’re competing for 47 minutes. We’re improving. Hopefully, we fi gure how to close out a game,”

said Globalport Glenn Capacio in Filipino. Sol Mercado and Ronjay Buenafe nailed a triple each and combined for a total of 38 points as Meralco also

gained a piece of second place with a 99-86 win over Barako Bull in the nightcap. “We pretty much made sure to match the emotion of Barako Bull (after its sorry loss to San Mig Coffee the last time out). The best way really is to play defense,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “Obviously, we’re lacking on ceiling but we’re compensating on quickness.”