SAN MIG COFFEE BEATS PETRON TO ENTER THE FINALSArwind Santos explodes for 32, calls out KIA and Alaska to finish their series and 'let's get it on'
San Mig Coffee coach Luigi Trillo keeping a close eye on his wards during Game 5 of the PBASim South Conference Finals The San Mig Coffee Mixers has finally lived up to the expectations of many at the start of the season as it finished off the Petron Blaze Boosters, 106-91 in Game 5 of the South Conference Finals and getting the first seat in the Finals. They will now await the winner in the North Conference matchup of the Alaska Aces against the KIA Sorentos.
After almost being eliminated in the first round by the hungry Global Port Batang Pier (3-1), the Coffee Mixers proved the doubters wrong by winning the next three games to get past the Batang Pier. Then San Mig took care of business winning Games 2 to 5 after the Boosters drew first blood of the conference finals.
"I just told the team that no matter if were up 3-1 or down 0-3 for as long as we stay focused, stick to the gameplan and trush each other. This is great milestone not only for me but also for this great organization. These guys have gone through a lot especially after we went down against Global in the first round so we really have to go through adversities. This is a great win for all of us but we can't just celebrate yet because there's still one more (Finals).", said by coach Lugi Trillo of the Coffee Mixers during the post-game interview.
Arwind Santos scored a game-high and a double-double, amassed 32 points to go along with 10 boards, despite missing all of his three attempts from the trey. But Sunday Salvacion was there to shoot the lights out for the Mixers scored 16 points with 3-of-4 from 3-pt distance. Wynne Arboleda also provided a good game for the Mixers, had 12pts, 7rebs and 8assts. Bench standout Rob Parker had his own 16pt-performance of the night while Willy Wilson also notched a double-double (10pts, 12rebs).
Petron on the other hand fought gallantly in the game, with Ryan Araña and Jay Washington leading the team, scoring 23 and 22 points respectively. Jimmy Alapag was surprisingly playing well below his standards. He only scored a paltry 9 points and had a horrible shooting night from the field, 3 out of 15. But what hurt them the most was the injury suffered by Washington throughout the series. He was still playing the whole series even after getting injured in Game 1 but to no avail.
"Sinunod lang namin ang gameplay na sinet ni coach (Trillo) para sa amin. Saka nag effort talaga kami sa defense saka sa rebounds, andami kasi nilang malalaki so doble effort talaga. Nakatulong din yung magandang shooting ni Sunday sa tres. Nagtulong-tulong talaga lahat para manalo and nagpapasalamat ako kay God kasi binigyan Nya tayo ng magandang laro tonight.", said by Arwind Santos who averaged 20.2 ppg in the conference finals.
It was really the shut down defense and rebounding of San Mig helped them win Game 5. They have outrebounded Petron (43-38) and forced the opponent to turn the ball over 19 times.
When asked about which team he would like to face in the Finals, Santos sounded taunting but pretty much excited: "
Kahit sino pa kalaban namin sa Finals, KIA or Alaska paghahandaan namin ýun kasi parehong malalakas at matatangkad pa. Dapat tapusin na nila ýan (South Conference Finals)
para let's get it on na (laughs). Nanood kasi ako ng replay ng UFC kaya ýun ang tumatakbo sa isip ko ngayon. Pero ýun nga, paghahandaan namin kahit sino pa makaharap namin."
The North Conference Finals matchup of the Alaska Aces and KIA Sorentos is now at 3-2 with the Aces leading the series after it beat the Sorentos in a defense-oriented Game 5, 89-77. Injury-hobbled Samigue Eman carried the Aces with an off the bench performance of 16 points and 15 rebounds. KIA meanwhile lost Enrico Villanueva to a wrist injury ending his season.
"We'll be prepared, we'll get ready. Those two (Alaska, KIA) are the teams that no one should overlook because of the depth of those teams and the greatness of their respective coaches.", added Trillo when asked about the upcoming Finals.
Fri 6 Feb - 17:58:46 by 
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Subject: SAN MIG COFFEE BEATS PETRON TO ENTER THE FINALS 
