MANILA — The Petron Blaze Boosters turned a close match into a romp late in the fourth quarter to turn back the San Mig Coffee Mixers, 89-83, Saturday night in the PBA Governors Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena. Four Boosters conspired in a fiery 14-5 run at the homestretch as Petron grabbed the solo lead with its fourth straight win after debuting with a loss. In a 10-0 blast in the last three minutes of the match, import Elijah Millsap fired a triple, Chris Lutz converted two free throws, Jun Mar Fajardo scored on an undergoal stab, and then Ronald Tubid nailed a three-pointer to send the Mixers tumbling to their third defeat in four outings. Millsap finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, and six steals in 43 minutes of action. Lutz and Tubid added 10 points each while Fajardo chipped in eight points. Although import Marqus Blakely once again led the Mixers with 25 points and 14 boards, he contributed greatly to his team's downfall after missing seven straight free throws in the second half. James Yap scored 14 points on a sluggish 5-of-15 shooting from the field and also had four turnovers as a result of the leech-like defense put on him alternately by Tubid and Lutz. Midway in the elimination round, Petron is a strong contender for the Top Four seedings that will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage over their respective matchups in the quarterfinals. In the first match of the Saturday double-header, the defending champion Rain or Shine Elasto Painters cashed in on the monstrous performance of import Arizona Reid to down the Air21 Express, 109-95. Reid exploded for 39 points and 19 rebounds as the E-Painters snapped a two-game losing skid to improve their win-loss record to 3-2, good for solo third in the standings, half a game behind second placer Barako Bull Energy Cola (3-1). ROS head coach Yeng Guiao heaved a huge sigh of relief as his boys appeared to have broken their two-game shooting slump. “We've been in a shooting slump the last two games,” said Guiao. “We need to shoot our way out of the shooting slump. Just fire away.” The E-Painters had suffered crushing defeats in their last two matches against Petron and Alaska as their shooting percentages turned ice cold. But on Saturday night, the E-Painters shot better than 50 percent from the field, with Reid good for 17-of-26 (65 percent). The 6'4” do-it-all former PBA Best Import also had 19 rebounds and four assists. Returning from injury, Paul Lee added 19 points, six assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Ryan Arana chipped in 14 points. The E-Painters also tightened up on defense, holding prolific Air21 import Zach Graham to just 18 points, the second straight game that Graham registered a PBA career-low in scoring. KG Canaleta and Mike Cortez picked up the cudgels for Air 21, finishing with 25 and 21 points, respectively. But their efforts were in vain as the Express suffered their fourth loss in five games to remain at the bottom of the standings.
