Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — The Petron Blaze Boosters barged into the semifinals, sweeping the Barako Bull Energy Cola in their quarterfinals series with a 107-100 Game 2 victory Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena. After a cold start, Alex Cabagnot waxed hot in the second half, finishing with 22 points and 12 assists to secure Petron's place in the Top 4. The third-seeded Boosters will square off with the second seed Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in a best-of-seven semifinals that will start next week. Cabagnot nailed two huge three-pointers and then a layup in the final minute as Petron finished off the bruising Barako Bull and set up a best-of-seven semifinal series against second seed Rain or Shine, which earlier clinched the first semis berth with a 106-96 win against the GlobalPort Batang Pier last Wednesday. The Petron-Rain or Shine series begins Monday. The Boosters led by as many as 14 points but could not pull away as the Energy Cola, led by Rico Maierhofer, kept threatening to steal the game away. But when Barako Bull closed in at 89-92, Cabagnot rose to the challenge, draining 10 of Petron's last 15 points. The streak-shooting guard finished with a double-double performance of 22 points and 12 assists on top of three rebounds and a steal. Chris Lutz contributed 18 points, while reigning MVP Arwind Santos also tallied a double-doubble – his seventh in the conference – finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Big man June Mar Fajardo added 14 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks while playing for nearly the entire game. Marcio Lassiter chipped in with 11 points, while Ronald Tubid added 10. Maierhofer led Barako Bull with a career-high 21 points in a perfect nine-of-nine shooting from the field. He also had 11 rebounds. JC Intal added 20 points while Denok Miranda finished with 14 markers. Talk N Text 82, San Mig Super Coffee 77 The three-time defending champion Talk N Text Tropang Texters kept alive their hopes for a four-peat, spilling the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers, 82-77, in Game 2 of their quarterfinals series. The win tied their best-of-three series at 1-1, with the deciding match set for Sunday. Top gunner Jayson Castro and the come-backing Ryan Reyes combined for 14 points in the fourth quarter to ward off a last-ditch Mixers' assault at the homestretch. Castro finished with a game-high 20 points while Reyes scored 13 points, including back-to-back three-pointers in the last two minutes to put an end to San Mig's five-game winning streak. KG Canaleta, newly acquired from Air21, also dished out his A-Game for the Texters, scoring 13 points, the same output made by veteran Danny Seigle. Peter June Simon, the hero of San Mig's two previous matches, could have bailed his team out of trouble but he missed two crucial shots down the stretch. Joe Devance led the Mixers with 13 points and six rebounds while Simon, Mark Barroca and Rafi Reavis contributed 12 points apiece. The two squads fought a defense-oriented match, leading to numerous turnovers – 21 for Talk N Text and 19 for San Mig. Game Saturday: Barangay Ginebra vs. Alaska.
