MANILA — The San Mig Coffee Mixers squandered a 28-point lead in the first half but woke up just in the nick of time to survive a ferocious endgame run by the Petron Blaze Boosters, 88-86, in Game 4 of the PBA Governors Cup finals Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena. The Mixers thus tied the series at 2-all, turning the finals into a best-of-three affair, with Game 5 set Sunday. Mark Barroca drilled two crucial free throws while rookie Alex Mallari split his charities as the Mixers bounced back from their humiliating 90-68 Game 3 loss Wednesday. Marqus Blakely led the Mixers with 19 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Marc Pingris and James Yap added 15 and 14, respectively. San Mig Coffee raced to a 33-13 lead after the first quarter. The Mixers padded the lead to 28 points, 49-21, as the Boosters could not shake off their cold start. The complexion of the game suddenly changed in the second half when Petron finally succeeded in revving up its offensive engine. The Boosters took the third quarter, 34-17. They finally took the lead on a three-pointer by Marcio Lassiter, 73-71, with 7:48 remaining in the game. With Petron still ahead, 77-73, Barroca and Marc Pingris combined for an 9-2 blast as the Mixers regained the lead. Petron import Elijah Millsap tied the game, 83-all, but Barroca scored two crucial free throws on the return play. Arwind Santos, who was named Most Valuable Player at halftime, committed a costly turnover leading to two more San Mig Coffee free throws courtesy of Peter June Simon with 12 seconds left. The Boosters kept fighting back with Millsap scoring on a three-point play to cut the San Mig Coffee deficit to 87-86. Yap could have iced the game but missed two crucial free throws. Fortunately, Blakely forced a jumpball with Millsap with Blakely winning the jump as he tapped the ball to Mallari who was immediately fouled. The rookie split his charities for the final point of the game. Lassiter missed a desperation heave from the backcourt as the final buzzer sounded. Millsap led the Boosters with 33 points while rookie center June Mar Fajardo notched his first 20-20 output in the Finals — scoring 20 points and grabbing a career-high 26 rebounds. After being named this year's MVP, Santos struggled all game long, scoring just eight points on four-of-10 shooting, and limited to just three rebounds. Santos beat out Jayson Castro of Talk ‘N Text and LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel for the award. Santos, Tenorio, and Castro formed the First Mythical Team along with Calvin Abueva of Alaska and Ranidel De Ocampo of Talk ‘N Text. Pingris, Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot of Petron, Sonny Thoss and Cyrus Baguio of Alaska formed the Second Mythical team. Abueva, the second overall pick, beat out Fajardo, the top draftee, for the Rookie of the Year award. KG Canaleta of Air 21 won the Most Improved Player trophy. JVee Casio of Alaska took home the Sportsmanship Award for the second straight year.
