MANILA — With their guns all ablaze right from the get-go, the Petron Blaze Boosters overwhelmed the San Mig Coffee Mixers, 90-68, Wednesday night in Game 3 of the PBA Governors Cup Finals at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Petron thus took a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4 Friday. The Boosters handily won despite missing the services of their two injured point guards — Alex Cabagnot, who went down with plantar fasciitis heel injury after their last game, and Chico Lanete, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Following their 93-100 loss in Game 2 of the Finals, the Boosters were raring to come back strong. But the Mixers appeared equally determined to prove their victory was no fluke. And with Petron handicapped by the loss of its two point guards, the Mixers appeared to be in a good position to break the 1-1 deadlock in their favor. But Game 3 defied all expectations as the Boosters dominated the Mixers on both ends of the court. Playing as a point guard in the absence of Cabagnot, import Elijah Millsap led all scorers with 28 points, including five triples. He also finished with eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Rookie center June Mar Fajardo was again a huge difference for Petron, finishing with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. He also had nine rebounds, while serving as the Boosters' main defensive stopper at the same time. Marcio Lassiter added 13points while Arwind Santos chipped in 10. With Fajardo drawing San Mig Coffee's defenders in the shaded lane, Petron shooters found plenty of open looks beyond the three-point arc, shooting 10-of-24 three-pointers. In contrast, San Mig Coffee shot a dismal 2-of-15 from three-point range. Petron switched to maximum power in the second quarter when it fired off 27 points while limiting San Mig Coffee to just 10 points, taking a 55-30 lead at halftime. The Mixers never recovered from the knockout blow inflicted by the Boosters as they faded away in the second half. Best Import Marqus Blakely led the Mixers with 17 points and 10 boards. James Yap was the only local San Mig Coffee player to score in double-figures with 10. Both teams fielded in their second and third stringers for most parts of the second half as the Mixers could not match up to the firepower and defensive intensity of the Boosters. Petron head coach Gee Abanilla said their Game 3 victory showed the true character of his Boosters. “We're very happy with the way the team responded after that loss in Game Two. We always tell our players the mark of a good team is knowing how we can come back from that Game Two loss,” said Abanilla who is just two wins away from steering the San Miguel franchise into its 20th PBA championship. San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone was disgusted with his boys' performance. “I said in our last game, we had to be firing on all cylinders, and obviously we didn't tonight,” said Cone, who waved the white flag of surrender with more than eight minutes left in the game by benching Blakely. The scores: Petron 90 — Millsap 28, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 13, Santos 10, Hubalde 9, Miranda 6, Tubid 5, Deutchman 0, Lutz 0, Kramer 0, Isip 0, Ildefonso 0. San Mig Coffee 68 — Blakely 17, Yap 10, Mallari 9, Devance 9, Barroca 7, Simon 6, Pingris 5, Reavis 3, Alvarez 1, Gaco 1, Ponferrada 0, Acuna 0, Najorda 0, De Ocampo 0. Quarters: 28-20; 55-30; 77-52; 90-68.
