The San Mig Coffee Mixers and the Alaska Aces figure in a win-or-go-home encounter for the last seat in the Governors’ Cup semifinals on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tipoff is set at 7:15 p.m. with the Mixers hoping to stave off the Aces’ momentum after forcing the do-or-die match with a 112-105 win last Wednesday.
San Mig Coffee, a finalist in the same tournament last season, looked poised to enter the semis before JVee Casio and Cyrus Baguio sparked a big closing run for the Aces to force the knockout game.
The Mixers will have to figure out a way to slow down rampaging Alaska import Wendell McKines, who bullied his way to 38 points and 13 rebounds in their first quarterfinals encounter.
Alaska is hoping to complete the upset of San Mig Coffee, with Aces coach Luigi Trillo noting that it had been done before. The team then known as the B-MEG Llamados was beaten twice in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup last season by the Powerade Tigers.
Star forward Marc Pingris said he is planning to rally his teammates to avoid another playoff collapse, adding that other veteran leaders James Yap and Peter June Simon will also have to speak out before the crucial encounter.
The winner of the match will advance to a best-of-five series against the Meralco Bolts that will begin on Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
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