Games today:
Araneta Coliseum
6:15 p.m. Ginebra vs. Talk ‘N Text
Once again, Denzel Bowles has proven to coach Tim Cone and the rest of San Mig Coffee that he can carry the team to victory as he towed the defending champions Mixers to a 71-69 win against tournament no. 1 Alaska Aces in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal round yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Struggling all-game long, Bowles rose up to the challenge in the final 1:11 of the fourth period as he single-handedly took care of the Mixers’ offense by hitting three successive jump shots to give San Mig a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five series against the Aces.
Bowles’ heroics, which was reminiscent of his performance in Game 7 of their title-clinching win in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup finals against Talk ‘N Text, allowed Cone to keep his undefeated record intact against his former team Alaska. Since transferring to San Mig, Cone has yet to lose against the Aces after nine tries.
The former Best Import awardee Bowles had a tough night on offense as he only had six points entering the final minutes of the game with Alaska holding a 64-61 lead.
Baskets by Marc Pingris sandwiched by two freethrows from former MVP James Yap gave San Mig a slight 65-64 lead but Alaska answered with a booming triple from Jayvee Casio for a 67-65 lead in the final 1:27.
Bowles hit the first of his successive jump shots the play after to tie the game at 67. San Mig regained possession after an empty Alaska offense and Bowles hit another jumpshot with 36.8 seconds left to give the Mixers a 69-67 lead.
After an Alaska timeout, Calvin Abueva tied the count again at 69 with an undergoal stab off an offensive rebound from three unsuccessful attempts by import Rob Dozier, Sonny Thoss and Casio with 22.6 ticks left.
Bowles capped off his late-game heroics as he sank another jumper over Dozier after a San Mig timeout and left just 6.8 seconds on the clock. Alaska had to play the last possession right away since it ran out of timeouts but San Mig played great defense and forced Casio to a contested three pointer that went airball.
Bowles finished with 12 points while Yap, the Escalante City, Negros Occidental native who was playing with an injured lower back, added 10 points despite the tough defense played on him by Abueva.
Peter June Simon kept the Mixers in the game in the first three quarters and finished with a team-high 15.
Dozier topscored for Alaska with 21 points.