Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA – The San Mig Coffee Mixers, formerly the B-Meg Llamados, opened their 38th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) campaign with a devastating 103-83 win against the Alaska Aces in the main game of Friday night's 2012-2013 Philippine Cup twinbill at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. With their sizzling offense and unforgiving defense, the Mixers had the Aces staring at a huge 19-point deficit, 75-56, at the end of the third quarter. Down in a deep hole, the Aces tried to claw their way back to the surface but all they could do was to trim the lead down to 15, 90-74, with four minutes left in the game, before falling back into the abyss. Interestingly, the Aces defeated the Mixers in two preseason games. San Mig head coach Tim Cone said this was the reason why his boys played with extra fire on their bellies. “We're so scared by our preseason that we came in very focused tonight,” Cone said. “Everybody's a little bit frightened. Everybody came out focused. Everybody played well. When everything clicks for you, you get a 20-point win,” he added in the post-game interview.
Yancy De Ocampo shook off his veteran legs to lead the Mixers with 22 huge points, 13 rebounds and six assists. James Yap chipped in 20 while PJ Simon and Mark Barroca contributed 16 each. Playing in his first game for Alaska, the comebacking Dondon Hontiveros led his team with 14 points while Cyrus Baguio added 13. Mac Baracael and Gabby Espinas scored 12 apiece. In the curtain-raiser, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters squandered a 22-point lead and had to fight for dear life to eke out a 112-110 win in overtime against the hard-fighting Meralco Bolts. Despite the absence of injured point guard Jimmy Alapag, the Texters appeared headed for a blowout win as early as the first quarter after erecting a 25-8 lead. The Texters stayed hot and by the end of the third quarter they built up an imposing 22-point lead, 86-64. But the Bolts finally woke up from their deep slumber and launched a searing rally to tie the game, 99-99, at the end of regulation.
In the overtime period, the two teams fought tooth and nail and found themselves tied at 110-all with 14.5 left. But Jason Castro drilled two free throws to salvage the win for Talk ‘N Text. Jared Dillinger led the Texters with 20 points while Castro had 16. JR Reyes led Meralco with 25 points while Sol Mercado chipped in 20.
