MANILA — The San Mig Coffee Mixers switched off the power from the Meralco Bolts and knocked them out. The Bolts experienced blackout as they went scoreless in the last eight minutes as the Mixers pulled off a pulsating 90-82 victory in Game 3 of their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals match Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. San Mig Coffee thus wrapped up their series 2-1, setting up a highly anticipated best-of-five semifinals battle against the Alaska Aces beginning Saturday. San Mig Coffee appeared to have got Alaska's numbers, having beaten the top-seeded Aces eight straight times. San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone said he has “a little bit of confidence” going up against the team he had coached for 22 years (1989-2011). “But I don't think that anybody in our team does not feel like this is going to be a tough, down-the-wire series,” he added. The Mixers grabbed the last ticket to the Final Four mainly on the firepower of its two big guns – import Denzel Bowles and James Yap, who returned to his deadly form just in the nick of time. Bowles finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Yap, who averaged just 7.0 points in the series, unloaded 20 points, three rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action. Marc Pingris also played huge for the Mixers on both ends of the court, contributing 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists while handcuffing Meralco's high-scoring import Eric Dawson. Pingris held Dawson scoreless in the fourth quarter while scoring eight of his own. Yap said he worked hard to get himself in tip-top shape again to be able to help his team mates. The former two-time Most Valuable Player said following their 100-92 win in Game 2 of their quarterfinals match with Meralco last Sunday, he underwent ultrasound and chiropractic treatment for his ailing back, adding that the treatment paid off. The Bolts fought off the Mixers on nearly even terms for three quarters which saw seven deadlocks and five lead changes. The Bolts clawed their way back from a 15-point deficit and took the lead, 82-79, on a shot-clock-beating triple by Chris Ross. But that turned out to be Meralco's last basket as the Mixers completely shut off the Bolts in the last eight minutes of the match. During that stretch, the Mixers piled up 11 unanswered points while the Bolts had 11 consecutive misses and four turnovers. Bowles' three-point play first tied the score at 82. Then Pingris added six straight points to give the Mixers an 88-82 spread. Joe Devance then scored the final the basket with 22 seconds left. “It seemed they got a little bit tired in the end, especially Dawson, a great import. We defended well, and he missed them (shots). It really came down to the last eight possessions,” Cone said. In the second quarter, Bowles suffered a cut just below the corner of his right eye from a wayward elbow by a driving Reynel Hugnatan. Bowles was forced to rest as he had his wound stitched up. That gave him enough rest which proved helpful for the Mixers. “When Denzel went out with a hit it was a blessing in disguise. Denzel got six or seven minutes of unnatural rest,” Cone said. “(Meralco) coach Ryan (Gregorio) was matching Dawson to Denzel. With his rest, I was able to play Denzel the whole second half,” the San Mig Coffee mentor added. Dawson led Meralco with 24 points, 16 rebounds and three steals. But he missed four straight shots in the fourth quarter. “They just missed some shots,” said Cone. “We defended well, but they still had some open shots, makeable shots. They just missed them.” Meralco's Mark Cardona added 19 points and seven rebounds while Chris Ross a near-triple double of 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
