Games today:
Cebu Coliseum
5 p.m. – MLKP-Cebu vs. Alaska
7 p.m. – Talk ’N Text vs. San Mig Coffee
THE SAN MIG Coffee Mixers proved to be rude guests as they handed the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños an 82-69 beating at the start of the Mayor Michael Rama Cup yesterday at the packed Cebu Coliseum.
The Niños were within striking distance in the first quarter and trailed by just three, 23-20, but the Mixers, formerly the BMEG Llamados, turned it on in the next quarter and never looked back.
Crowd favorite James Yap finished with a game-high 14 points while Peter June Simon added 13 for San Mig Coffee. Cebuano forward Aldrech Ramos, the fifth pick in this year’s draft, added 10 points for the Coffee Mixers.
San Mig ended the first canto with a 15-5 blast that gave the Coffee Mixers a 46-30 advantage.
Simon anchored that breakway by scoring eight points off a three-point play, two freethrows and a looping three pointer.
The dam broke in the third period as the lead grew to a high of 22, 54-32, after three straight points by Yap, a two-time PBA MVP.
The Niños tried to make their way back in the fourth and came to within 13 on two occasions, the last at 60-73, with 5:05 left.
But Yap doused the fire with a three pointer from the wing and added two more freethrows to put the Coffee Mixers on top, 78-60.
The Niños were led by the 11 of Abby Santos and Ian Saladaga. /Correspondent Jonas Panero