SAN MIG Coffee managed to notch a badly-needed win, but at a very high cost.
The Mixers started out and ended hot to hurdle Globalport, 102-88, Wednesday in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome. Marqus Blakely scored 25 points and James Yap a personal conference-high 22, but it was the pair of Allein Maliksi and Joe Devance who mainly kept the Mixers afloat in the fourth period in the face of the Batang Pier’s fiery uprising.
San Mig’s second win in five games looked relatively easy as it posted several 21-point leads starting in the second period before easily quashing the Globalport threat that put it within 87-94 late in the game. It comes with a price, though.
A brawl that erupted early in the third quarter caused the ejection of Marc Pingris and Globalport’s Kelly Nabong for fighting and they are sure to be meted sanctions, including suspensions, by PBA Commissioner Chito Salud.
The two players, along with Marvin Hayes and Joe Devance, have been summoned to appear before Salud and the latter will first hear their respective side before announcing his decision later in the afternoon.
“We’ll call the players, have them explain their side and hand out the proper sanctions,” stated Salud, who witnessed his first on-court fight on his third season at the helm of the league.
San Mig Coffee has Barangay Ginebra as next opponent Sunday before taking on Alaska three days later.
“I’m worried that we might have won the battle but lost the war,” said Cone. “We’ll see what the repercussions are at this point.”
The loss was Globalport’s second straight, tying it with its latest tormentor.
In his finest scoring game yet in the season-ending tourney, Gary David scattered 27 points and Jay Washington added 14 in helping make up for a sour night from Markeith Cummings, who scored 20 points but only because of a 10-for-14 shooting from the stripes after going 5-for-13 from the field.
Not without the incident, which Cone blamed to the game officials failing to put a halt to the pulling and grabbing going on underneath.
“I may get in trouble for this, but I felt the calls they didn’t make when Marvin (Hayes) and Marqus fell to the floor for the first three times caused it. They didn’t have control of the game right then.”
The fourth time it happened sparked the scrum.
With 8:11 to go in the period and San Mig up by 58-39, Blakely and Hayes again got tangled and the two fell to the court. A referee had already slapped the two a double foul when Devance came in and gave Hayes a strong chest shove, dropping the latter to the floor.
Things got uglier in a heartbeat. Nabong saw the incident and tried to get at Devance but managed to shove Blakely instead. Pingris got into the act and gave Nabong a punch and the two went at it with glancing blows.
Cooler heads finally managed to separate the protagonists, including Cone, who got sprawled on the court while grabbing Nabong’s leg.
“I was a little scared in the middle of it. A coach is supposed to go in there and break it up. Luckily he stumbled over me,” related Cone. “I had to do it on the biggest guy on the court. I kept saying, ‘Settle down, Kelly,’ while praying he wouldn’t punch me. He was shouting: ‘Get off me!’”
Direct off-shoots of the incident were the technical fouls slapped Hayes and Devance for second motion, and the ejection of Pingris and Nabong for fighting fouls. (NC)
The scores:
San Mig Coffee 102 – Blakely 25, Yap 22, Maliksi 18, Devance 16, Pingris 10, Simon 4, Reavis 4, Barroca 3, Alvarez 0, Gaco 0, De Ocampo 0.
Globalport 88 – David 27, Cummings 20, Washington 14, Mercado 13, Miller 5, Mandani 4, Belencion 3, Salvador 2, Hayes 0, Taha 0, Nabong 0, Yee 0, Alonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 28-14, 51-31, 79-66, 102-88
Source: http://pba.inquirer.net/30067/san-mig-coffee-survives-globalport-in-fight-marred-game
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