Depleted San Mig notches first win

The undermanned San Mig Coffee Mixers finally broke into the win column but they needed two overtime periods to achieve it as they escaped the Air21 Express, 92-83, in the 39th PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena last night.

Mark Barroca topscored for the Coffee Mixers with 19 points and eight assists while Rafi Reavis and Marc Pingris connived for 30 points and 27 rebounds as San Mig snapped a three-game slide despite playing without injured top guns James Yap and Joe Devance.

“We just need a win. We need to come out with a win and we don’t care whether it’s an ugly win or a beautiful win. We’ll take any win,” San Mig coach Tim Cone told pba.ph after the game.

Rookie Ian Sangalang finished in twin digits for the third straight game with 14 points, while Alex Mallari scored 12 points and made a crucial jumper with 4.9 seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Asi Taulava actually had a chance to give Air21 its first win but missed a jumper as the regulation buzzer sounded.

Joseph Yeo finished with 21 points for the Express, who dropped to 0-4 (win-loss).

Niño Canaleta, who chipped in 20 markers for Air21, sent the match into second overtime, tying the count at 79-all by nailing three pressure-packed free throws with three-tenths of a second left.

The Coffee Mixers bailed themselves out of trouble in the second overtime behind the efforts of Barroca and Sangalang, who combined for eight straight points that saw their team break away from a tight 81-79 tally.

“Luckily in the overtimes we got some stops and got it (win). I’m really happy with the character of the guys,” said Cone.