ON THE brink after back-to-back losses, Rain Or Shine easily could have let another one get away.
Instead, the defending champs used mental toughness and a flurry of three-pointers to hold off Petron Blaze, 92-87, and extend their PBA Governors Cup semifinal showdown last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Jeff Chan fired 18 points, including a go-ahead three in the closing minutes as the Elasto Painters avoided a crunch-time pratfall similar to what happened in the first two games of the best-of-five series.
Stuck in a double-digit hole early in the fourth, the Elasto Painters held the Boosters scoreless for almost seven minutes while knocking down four three-pointers in that span to complete the comeback.
“We made some three-point shots today as opposed to zero last game,” said Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who arrived at the start of the second quarter after getting stuck in a traffic snarl on Edsa.
“We also did a good job on June Mar (Fajardo). I guess we’re just trying to make a series out of it,” added Guiao, whose wards still trail the race-to-three affair, 1-2.
The Elasto Painters lost Games 1 and 2 due to atrocious three-point shooting. They went four of 26 in the series opener and missed all of their 18 attempts from afar in the next.
Last night, Guiao and his troops were 9 of 30 from long distance and prevented hot-streaking Petron from posting their 12th straight win and pulling off a sweep to arrange a title due with either Meralco or San Mig Coffee.
“We’re still losing Paul Lee (shoulder injury) and Ryan Araña (fever) but that’s not an excuse for we should be able to fend for ourselves,” said Guiao.
Only three teams have come back from a 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-five series. Ginebra San Miguel last pulled off the trick deed versus Talk N Text in the 2009-10 Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 92—Reid 25, Chan 18, Tiu 9, Belga 7, Quinahan 7, Cruz 6, Ibañes 6, Matias 4, Norwood 4, Tang 3, Rodriguez 3.
PETRON 87—Cabagnot 18, Millsap17, Lutz 15, Lassiter 11, Fajardo 9, Santos 9, Lanete 5, Tubid 3, Kramer 0.
Quarters: 23-19, 48-44, 72-70, 92-87