MANILA — Rookie guard Alex Mallari played his finest game yet, scoring a career-high 23 points, including 13 in the final quarter, to lead the San Mig Coffee Mixers to a rousing 94-87 win against the Meralco Bolts Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Game 3 of their best-of-five PBA Governors' Cup semifinals. The Mixers now lead the series 2-1, needing just one more victory to enter the finals. Import Marqus Blakely also shone for the Mixers, scoring a double-double 21 points and 22 rebounds. He also had five assists, four blocks, and three steals. Usually notorious on the free throw line, Blakely this time played much better, hitting 12 of 19 from the stripe. Mark Barroca and James Yap chipped in 18 and 13 points, respectively. For the first time in the series, San Mig Coffee outrebounded Meralco, 55-41. A major factor for this was the injury sustained by Meralco import Mario West who sprained his right shoulder after a hard foul by San Mig Coffee's Joe Devance late in the third quarter. The injury sidelined the prolific Meralco import for the rest of the match. Mike Cortez had 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists to lead the Bolts. West contributed 13 points before heading to the bench for good. Despite playing without an import, the Bolts refused to back down as they kept within striking distance in the endgame. They were down by just two points, 79-81, when Mallari drilled a three-pointer with 2:38 left. The Mixers then scored four more points to pad their lead to 88-79 with 1:25 left. The Bolts answered with a 4-0 blast. But Mallari converted two charities to give San Mig Coffee a seven-point edge, 90-83. John Wilson brought Meralco back in the game as he completed a rare four-point play after being fouled by Mallari while taking a three-point shot. This cut the Mixers' lead to just three, 90-87, with 26.2 seconds left. But once again Mallari drilled two more free throws to ensure victory for the Mixers. San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone heaped praise on Mallari's performance. “Alex was awesome tonight,” Cone gushed. Cone said apart from Mallari's career-high 23 points, the rookie's performance on defense also stood out. “The best part of Alex's game is defense. People don't always see it because he's a rookie, but he's such a great defender,” Cone said. The San Mig Coffee coach also said West's injury was a big break for his squad. “We were fortunate that Mario went out,” Cone said. The 6-foot-4 West was dribbling the ball down when he was bumped hard on the right shoulder by Devance near midcourt. The Meralco import fell hard on the floor, grimacing in pain as he held on to his right shoulder. Initial check with the league doctor showed that West might have suffered an acromioclavicular (AC) joint sprain on his right shoulder. The scores: San Mig 94 - Mallari 23, Blakely 21, Barroca 18, Yap 13, Devance 7, Pingris 4, Reavis 4, Acuna 2, Simon 2. Meralco 87 - Cortez 15, West 13, Wilson 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 11, Dillinger 10, Salvacion 9, Cardona 3, Reyes 2, Guevarra 0, Ross 0. Quarters: 17-22, 44-42, 66-64, 94-87.
