BEAU Belga (30), Chris Tiu (17) and Ronnie Matias of Rain or Shine gang up on June Mar Fajardo of Petron Blaze in last night’s game at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Pushed for the first time in close to two months, Petron Blaze turned to its import in the stretch to pull this one out of the fire.
Elijah Millsap scored 11 straight points in the most critical stage of the fourth period last night and keyed a 91-83 decision of Rain or Shine for a 1-0 lead over the defending champions in their PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Millsap’s burst of offensive brilliance came after the highly fancied Boosters trailed by four midway through the final frame as Petron won a 10th straight game dating back to the eliminations for the franchise’s longest winning streak in 24 years.
“He bailed us out tonight, but next time around, we need more contributions from the locals,” said coach Gee Abanilla. “In our (previous) won games, there were usually five to six locals (in double digits). They need to step up next time.”
Rain or Shine battled the Boosters tooth-and-nail all night and even took a 77-73 lead with 6:50 remaining after a Chris Tiu free throw.
That fired up Millsap no end as his string of baskets from inside and out boosted the Boosters to an 84-81 lead going into the final 3:43, a lead Petron never relinquished with a hard-nosed stand the rest of the way.
Millsap, the prime contender for the Best Import award, had PBA career-highs of 41 points and 15 rebounds that went with just four turnovers.
Only Alex Cabagnot, who drilled a crucial trey off Gabe Norwood that beat the shotclock for 87-83 with 1:19 left, and June Mar Fajardo finished in twin digits with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Arizona Reid paced the Elasto Painters with 28 points and Jeff Chan had 16. And like Petron, the duo lacked the support, especially with Paul Lee out for the rest of the series with a torn left calf muscle.
Mixers eye 2-0 lead
Meanwhile, San Mig Coffee guns for a commanding 2-0 lead against Meralco today as their semifinal series resumes, also at the Big Dome.
Gametime is 7:15 p.m. with the Mixers hoping to take the momentum of an 83-73 Game 1 victory and move within a win of another Finals trip.
San Mig is the obvious pick to win again, although Meralco had so many things that did not go its way in the series opener.
For one, Meralco import Mario West was held to a career-low nine points after making just 3-of-18 shots from the field.
“We have to make our outside shots to declog the lanes for Mario,” Gregorio said, adding that they were happy holding such a talented team like San Mig to just 83 points.
The scores:
PETRON 91—Millsap 41, Cabagnot 18, Fajardo 15, Lassiter 4, Santos 4, Tubid 4, Lanete 3, Lutz 2, Kramer 0, Ildefonso 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 83—Reid 28, Chan 16, Belga 7, Arana 7, Matias 6, Rodriguez 6, Cruz 5, Uyloan 4, Norwood 2, Tiu 1, Tang 1, Quinahan 0, Ibanes 0.
Quarters: 26-23, 49-44, 73-68, 91-83