Back to square one

It’s down to a best-of-five series, making Game 3 of the PBA Governors Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight a crucial encounter as Petron and San Mig Coffee battle to take the lead in the Last Dance.

Petron drew first blood, 100-84, behind a 41-point fourth quarter surge at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday then the Mixers leveled the count, 100-93, in the rematch at the Big Dome last Sunday. With the duel even at a win apiece, the race to the throne has been reduced to three wins to clinch. The team that wins Game 3 gets a chance to open a commanding lead if it repeats in Game 4.

The battle for supremacy is a classic clash of contrasting styles. Petron is a powerhouse offensive team with six players scoring in double figures in Game 1. The Blaze Boosters play like their moniker – they’re a high-octane team with tons of fuel to burn. It’s no wonder that Petron is the league leader in fastbreak points. In Game 1, the Blaze Boosters scored 17 transition points, two more than their norm, compared to San Mig Coffee’s seven. Evidence of their explosiveness came in the payoff period when Petron fired 41 points to put the game on ice after the Mixers started the fourth quarter on top by two. In that surge, Elijah Millsap scored 14 points while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz combined for 19 as Arwind Santos sat out the entire stretch. That’s how potent Petron is – even without the Spiderman on the floor, the Blaze Boosters banged in 41 points in 12 minutes.

In Game 2, the Mixers’ defense held sway. Coach Tim Cone said to beat Petron, San Mig Coffee must play with all cylinders smoking, meaning absolutely no sputter in every department. He put Marqus Blakely on Millsap from the opening tip to serve notice that the Petron import was in for a long night. Millsap posted a triple double in Game 1 and was clearly the man of the moment with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. In defending Millsap, you pick your poison – you allow his points but take away his assists or you limit his production and gamble in covering the locals. In Game 2, the Mixers bottled up Millsap both ways – his output fell to 31 and his assists were down to four. Blakely’s defense forced Millsap into eight turnovers from two in the opener.

Blakely’s emphasis on defense wasn’t a surprise. He was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year with the University of Vermont in the America East Conference, an NCAA Division I conclave. In Game 2, Blakely focused on stops than on points, finishing with a game-high four steals.

Blakely’s father Marvin watched from the lower box section and screamed his lungs out to remind his son to bend his knees when taking free throws. It’s a little-known fact that Marvin is a lawyer with the McGivney and Kluger group in New Jersey, specializing in negligence and personal injury. He finished at Yale in 1977 and earned a juris doctorate at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1982. Despite his father’s reminders, Blakely hit only 7-of-21 from the line. But the bottom line was San Mig Coffee won.

* * * *

Around 250 parbusters are expected to join the 21st Opal Cup for the benefit of SAGIP (Saklolo at Gabay ng Ina at Pamilya) and the Alabang Golf and Country Club caddies at the Alabang course on Oct. 17-18. The annual event is organized by the Alabang Ladies Golf Chapter headed by its president Anna Lacson-Haurie.

The 18-hole tournament features a two-man Best Ball format. The featured hole-in-one prize is an Opal ring embellished with diamonds and tsavorites created by Hans Brumann Jewelers, especially designed for the event. The one-of-a-kind Opal ring will be raffled off to tournament participants if no lucky player makes a hole-in-one on No. 8. Other hole-in-one prizes are a Nissan Almera from Nissan Alabang, a golf cart from The Turf Company, a round trip ticket from Asiana Airlines and P150,000 cash from Lacson and Lacson Insurance, Inc.

Hole sponsors are Canon, Manulife Philippines, Gergia Energy Food Corp., KIA Motors, Chinatrust, Golfers’ Club Shares Inc., Facial Care/Marie France, Golf Depot and Crimson Resort and Spa. Event sponsors are Acacia Hotel, Alveo Land, Bailey’s, Barangay Ayala Alabang, Champion/Peerless, Coca-Cola, Congressman Rodolfo Biazon, EcPay Inc., Joseph’s Rice Dealer, Lydia’s Lechon, Monalisa Restorante, PLDT-SME, Raffy Ilagan, Srixon/First Tee Inc., Standard Chartered Bank and Torre Lorenzo Corp.

SAGIP is a 24-hour crisis center for abused women and children of Muntinlupa. To date, SAGIP has handled over 6,400 abuse cases and has reached over 22,000 community residents through its various “Combat Violence Against Women and Children” awareness programs. It is sponsoring the teaching of “Personal Safety Lessons” to over 31,100 Muntinlupa public school students through the “Gabay Bata” initiative. SAGIP is a duly-registered, licensed and accredited organization of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and certified as a donee institution by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC).