PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — JR Quiñahan drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Rain or Shine over Meralco, 89-86, as the Elasto Painters kept their bid for a top two finish going in the 2014 PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Quiñahan sank the game-winning basket from the left wing with just 0.7 tenths of a second left to take the shot as the Painters stretched their winning streak to six and improved to 10-3 with just a game left before winding up its elimination round campaign.
“I was surprised when it went in. I just told myself if it didn’t go in at least there’s still overtime,” said Quiñahan, who started at center, after hitting his only 3-pointer of the night.
“It’s always tough playing Meralco. Again we’re lucky, we’re riding a streak of good luck,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao.
“Also, I felt that one great shot deserves another. A big shot by Gary (David) and an even bigger shot taken by JR because it’s the game-winning shot,” Guiao added.
Rain or Shine seemed on its way to a victory after leading, 85-81, with only 19.4 seconds left but Meralco’s Gary David certainly had other plans in mind.
David drove and made a tough layup that cut the deficit to two before coming off the screen and nailing a deep trey from the right wing that knotted the count at 86, with 8.6 seconds left just 11 seconds later after Lee split his charities.
Lee’s step back three was way off but John Wilson tapped the ball out of bounds with still 0.7 tenths of a second remaining — just enough time for Gabe Norwood, who inbounded the ball from the baseline, to patiently find Quiñahan and set up the winner.
“We’re on a six-game winning streak somehow there’s some pressure them knowing you’re on a streak but we try not to put it at the back of our heads,” said Guiao.
“Sometimes we don’t really relish that label being the hottest team. We just want to keep winning so we could salvage the twice to beat advantage.”
Jeff Chan had 16 points while Lee added 14. Quiñahan only had five points and missed his first three shots from long range before making the all-important basket.
David led all scorers with 25 points while Reynel Hugnatan had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bolts, whose two-game winning steak was snapped and fell into a tie with GlobalPort and Barako Bull with a 5-8 record.