San Mig Coffee hands Petron thorough beating

Breaking out of the gates hard and finishing with a flurry, San Mig Coffee handed Petron Blaze a thorough beating even with June Mar Fajardo finally showing his worth on why he was the No. 1 Draft pick. James Yap scored 18 points and three others had 10 or more for the Mixers, who zoomed to their second straight win, 90-84, and solo leadership in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum. The Mixers opened up leads of as many as 18 points in the first half before the Boosters made a run where Petron came within five points late in the fourth quarter only to fall short. “We shouldn’t have let them get that close,” San Mig coach Tim Cone said while also giving praise on Petron’s talented rookie. “That’s a really good team. I felt we lost some energy in the second half. “We have to close out games a little better in the future,” added Cone. “And I am glad we got rid of them (Boosters) early. We don’t get to play them again until the playoffs and we still have a lot of improving to do.” Fajardo finished with the first double-double of his three-game-old PBA career with 16 points and 13 rebounds, his performance ignited by an altercation with teammate Jay Washington late in the third quarter when he failed to hold on to a rebound. “I think everybody got a glimpse of what June Mar can do,” Cone said of Petron’s 6-foot-10 center. “He was battling our big guys really well. His energy brought them back, giving them a lot of extra possessions.” But the endgame belonged to the Mixers eventually, with Yap finishing off the Boosters with a breakaway layup made possible by Yance De Ocampo’s block of a Washington three-point try for what turned out to be the final count. Peter June Simon finished with 17, 10 of them coming in the final half, and De Ocampo had eight of his 14 in the third period as the Mixers kept the Boosters within arm’s length. Arwind Santos scored 14 points in the first quarter but had just four points the rest of the way. The Mixers took the lead after Barangay Ginebra fell to Meralco, 95-88, in a road game in Digos, Davao del Sur on Saturday. Mac Cardona finished with 21 points and Sol Mercado added 19 for the Bolts, who trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter but forged ahead after the third with a 69-66 lead. Rookie Chris Ellis and the veteran Mark Caguioa, the reigning MVP, each had 19 points to pace the Gin Kings, who dropped to 2-1 like the Bolts. In Sunday night’s first game, Alaska finally worked hard and reaped the fruits, scoring a 102-86 victory over Barako Bull for a 1-2 card like its victims. JV Casio scattered 24 points, Cyrus Baguio had 23 and Mac Baracael finished with 21 as the Aces carved out their first win of the season even with Gabby Espinas in the hospital and starting center Sonny Thoss having a severe case of dehydration. Enrico Villanueva scored 22 points, his highest scoring output in four seasons, to lead the Energy, who took a second straight loss. Arabnews