Dy-nas-three! San Mig rallies to capture Commissioner’s Cup title

San Mig Super Coffee came storming back in the fourth period to upend Talk ‘N Text, 100-91, and bag the PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship at the jampacked Philsports Arena in Pasig.

The Super Coffee Mixers fell behind by as many as 17 points in the face of the Tropang Texters’ torrid three-point shooting, but regrouped behind Mark Barroca and James Yap down the stretch to steal Game 4 and wrap up the best-of-five series, 3-1.

This is the third straight PBA championship won by the Super Coffee Mixers in a championship run that dates back to the 2013 Governors’ Cup crown.

The Texters flipped the script on the Mixers in the first quarter as this time they were the ones who went on an early run. They raced to a 6-0 start to force San Mig Super Coffee head coach Tin Cone to call an early timeout at the 10:10 mark.

A fallaway jumper from Ranidel De Ocampo gave Talk ‘N Text their first double digit lead of the game at 12-1. Their lead ballooned to 17-1 to force Cone’s third timeout in six minutes.

The Mixers settled down later in the quarter to cut TNT’s lead down to 10 at 25-15 at the end of the first quarter.

San Mig Super Coffee finally made it a ball game midway through the second quarter. A slam dunk from James Mays cut the Texters’ lead down to six at 34-28. But just when the Mixers were knocking on Talk ‘N Text’s door, Jimmy Alapag led an 8-2 run to reestablish a double-digit lead at 42-30.

The Texters carried a 52-38 lead heading into the halftime break after a triple from Nino Canaleta.

The Tropang Texters made 52.3% of their field goals in the first half. They were led by Howell who had 10 points while De Ocampo and Alapag had nine each. The Mixers on the other hand were surprisingly led by Justin Melton with his fellow rookie Ian Sangalang adding nine.

The Mixers tried their best to close out the distance in the third but Canaleta rained down threes on them to keep Talk ‘N Text’s double digit lead.

San Mig Super Coffee made some headway with less than four minutes left in the third as PJ Simon made a triple to cut the Texters’ lead down to six at 68-62.

Ian Sangalang and Mark Barroca then conspired to score five straight points to cut the lead down to a single point. Marc Pingris then scored on a short stab to give the Mixers their first taste of the lead but Jayson Castro and Alapag nailed back to back triples to hold on to a 74-69 lead heading into the final quarter.

Mark Barroca carried the fight for the Mixers as he scored on back to back baskets to give the Mixers their second taste of the lead at 88-87 but Howell took it away with a two-handed slam.

Barroca refused to give the Texters an inch as he scored on a difficult one hander to regain the lead for the Mixers. James Yap quickly followed this up with a cold-blooded triple to give them their biggest lead of the game at 93-89 with exactly two minutes left in the game.

Barroca closed out the game with a stretch reminiscent of his Game 6  performance which won him the Finals MVP of the 2014 Philippine Cup.

The Main Men: The San Mig Super Coffee Mixers all had a hand in winning Game 4 of the series but the finishing kick that starred Mark Barroca and James Yap was the main reason for their success. The two combined for 22 points in the fourth quarter and tag-teamed for big shot after big shot to put the Texters away.

Honorable Mentions: The Texters tried to break the game wide open early on but the performance of two rookies kept the Mixers within striking distance. Ian Sangalang and Justin Melton combined for 20 points in the first half to keep their heads above water amidst the searing Talk ‘N Text run.

Game Turning Point: Big Game James showed up for the second consecutive game. His three point shot that gave the Mixers a four-point lead was according to Cone the back-breaker for Talk ‘N Text.

He Said It:

San Mig Super Coffee head coach  Tim Cone: At half time I screamed at the guys. I yelled at them told them you want to rest already for game 5? They battled and battled and battled. I am amazed. I thought they couldn’t do it but this team has proven me wrong over and over again. Our guys didn’t want to quit they just kept on battling.

The scores:

SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 100 – Barroca 22, Mays 18, Devance 12, Sangalang 12, Melton 11, Yap 10, Pingris 6, Simon 6, Reavis 2, Mallari 1, De Ocampo 0, Gaco 0.

TALK N’ TEXT 91 – Alapag 17, Howell 16, De Ocampo 16, Canaleta 16, Williams 12, Castro 5, Reyes 5, Seigle 2, Carey 2, Fonacier 0.

Quarters: 15-25, 38-52, 69-74, 100-91