MANILA — Coffee prevailed over milk on a rainy Tuesday night as the San Mig Coffee Mixers spilled the Alaska Aces, 95-82, in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum here. The match started late as many of the players were trapped in the traffic gridlock resulting from the flash floods brought about by the sudden downpour. Some of the players hitched a motorcycle ride, others took the Metro Rail Transit, while a few reached the venue on foot. Import Marqus Blakely appeared unfazed by the monstrous traffic and floods as he put up equally monstrous numbers for San Mig Coffee, finishing with 22 points, an eye-popping 28 rebounds and eight assists. The Mixers scored their third straight victory despite missing the services of hotshot forward Marc Pingris, who was serving the second of his two-game suspension. With their 4-3 win-loss card, San Mig Coffee thus vaulted into a tie for third to fifth spot in the standings with Rain or Shine and Barako Bull. San Mig Coffee's bench also churned in big numbers, making up for the mediocre performance of two-time MVP James Yap who was limited to just seven points. Allein Maliksi scored 16 points, while Mark Barroca and Peter June Simon added 15 and 13 markers, respectively. The Aces shot a miserable 39.5 percent from the field en route to their third defeat in six games, sliding down to solo sixth place. They also lost head coach Luigi Trillo in the last eight minutes of the game after he was ejected for incurring two technical fouls for excessive complaining. Down by five points in the opening quarter, the Mixers broke loose in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Aces, 57-36. Not done yet, the Mixers opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run to lead by 24, 84-60. The Aces made their last hurrah with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 15 points, 85-69. But they could not come any closer as time winded down. Import Wendell McKines led Alaska with 32 points and 15 rebounds. Sonny Thoss was the only other Alaska player in double digits with 13 points. In the first match of the Tuesday doubleheader, the defending champion Rain or Shine Elasto Painters brought down the Barako Bull Energy Cola, 120-93, as Gilas star Jeff Chan finally found his shooting touch, knocking down 20 points, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. Import Arizona Reid also exploded for 34 points as the E-Painters notched their fourth win seven games. After scoring a conference-low 76 points against the Meralco Bolts four days ago, the E-Painters notched their biggest point output in the conference by scoring 120 huge points Tuesday night. Barako Bull suffered a second huge loss after absorbing an 87-112 drubbing by Petron on Sept. 3. Rain or Shine won despite missing the services of Paul Lee, who sat out the game due to a right elbow injury, and rookie Chris Tiu, who is still abroad on personal business. The E-Painters shot the lights out of the coliseum with their 50 percent shooting from the field (44-of-88). Mike Singletary led the Energy Cola with 31 points and 13 rebounds, while Danny Seigle chipped in with 19 and seven boards.
