Career night for Ross as San Miguel averts collapse to beat Rain or Shine
Chris Ross of San Miguel (dark) vs Ryan ARana of Rain or Shine (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Beer banked on its hot shooting from long range to avert a major collapse and beat an equally hot Rain or Shine, 112-107, in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen, who blew a 16-point lead, also rode on a career game by Chris Ross, who had a personal-best 22 points on top of 10 assists to aptly fill the void left by the injured Sol Mercado.
“They’re so resilient, they are so well-coached and mentally tough that they were able to come back every single time,” said SMB active consultant Todd Purves of ROS.
“We expect that kind of effort from Chris Ross every time, that’s why he is the captain of our team,” said Purves of Ross’ performance.
Ross scored eight points in the fourth quarter, six coming in the final 3:58 of the game, including a drive that gave the Beermen a 107-104 cushion with 44.6 ticks left.
Reigning MVP Arwind Santos buried a go-ahead 3-pointer, 105-104, with 1:26 left that gave San Miguel Beer, which improved to 3-1, the lead for good. Santos finished with 19 points on three-of-five shooting from downtown.
Kevin Jones led SMB with 33 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks for his first PBA win since replacing former NBA veteran Josh Boone.
Both teams made 15 3-pointers with San Miguel Beer, which also drew 19 points from All-Star Marcio Lassiter, shooting 52 percent from that area. Lassiter had five triples alone.
Alex McLean equaled Jones’ output with 33 points, highlighted by a trey that put ROS on top, 101-98, for the first time since trailing by 16. He made another jumper for a 103-102 ROS edge later on.
Paul Lee and Beau Belga chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Painters but they just couldn’t pull through in the end and give their head coach Yeng Guiao a win on his birthday. ROS dropped to 1-2.
“It always feels good to beat a team of quality like Rain or Shine even if it’s just the eliminations,” said Purves.
Ross, known more for what he can do defensively, shot nine-of-17 from the field and also had five rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes.
Mercado sat the game out due to a groin injury and will be a game-time decision next game.
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