Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — With 11.6 seconds left and the game tied at 83-83, Mark Barroca buried a difficult turnaround jumper – his only field goal for the night – to lift the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers to a heart-stopping 85-83 victory against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings Tuesday night in Game 1 of their PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena. The 5'7” Barroca had previously missed seven shots and committed two defensive lapses in the endgame but redeemed himself by sinking the shot that mattered the most. He finished with just five points on top of eight rebounds and four assists. His opportunity for redemption came when the Kings turned the ball over on a badly executed inbounds play with 32 seconds left and the game tied at 83-all. Joe Devance tipped the inbounds pass by Ginebra's Mac Baracael allowing Barroca to grab the ball and race downcourt before firing a shot off Tenorio's raised arms for the game winner. With Ginebra out of timeouts, LA Tenorio sprinted upcourt and popped a three-point attempt but missed. Marc Pingris skied for the rebound and was fouled with 2.3 seconds left. He missed both free throws, however, giving Ginebra a ghost of a chance to equalize or snatch the game with 2.3 ticks left. But the Kings fumbled the ball after a backcourt inbounds pass, allowing the Mixers to grab a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals series. Before his endgame heroics, Barroca nearly doomed his team on the defensive end when on two occasions he lost sight of a driving Mark Caguioa who scored on two straight baskets. Devance was San Mig's top scorer with 20 points. PJ Simon added 16 points and five rebounds while Marc Pingris chipped in with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Rookie Justin Melton once again stole the limelight just like in San Mig's last game against the Talk N Text Tropang Texters last Sunday when he drilled four three-pointers. Two days later, Melton came off the bench to contribute eight points, all in the final quarter. His breakaway dunk early in the period swung the momentum in favor of San Mig Coffee as the Mixers seized the lead from the Kings. San Mig converted 32 of 75 shots from the field for a 42.7 percent clip, better than Ginebra's 32-of-81 (39.5 percent). However, the Kings had more fast break points (14-9) and turnover points (24-19). LA Tenorio led Ginebra with 16 points and six assists. Japeth Aguilar was limited to just 14 points and eight rebounds. Mac Baracael finished with 12 points and five rebounds while Greg Slaughter chipped in with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. San Mig head coach Tim Cone said winning Game 1 allowed his team to dictate the tempo of their upcoming matches. “There's no feeling of comfort leading by 1-0, but it does give you an opportunity to kind of dictate the series now, meaning they have to make the adjustments now and that takes off some pressure off your team,” he said. “It's big, but we didn't win the championship tonight and they didn't lose the championship tonight,” Cone said. “That game could've gone either way, it was just that close. It's better to be good most of the time, but we'll take getting lucky some of the time.” Game Wednesday: Petron Blaze vs. Rain or Shine.
