SAN MIG Coffee forward Marc Pingris soars for a slam in Game 1 of the Mixers’ semifinal duel vs Barangay Ginebra Tuesday. San Mig won, 85-83. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Getting contributions from everyone in the mad dash for home, Rain or Shine Wendesday night completed a comeback to remember with a 103-94 victory over Petron Blaze that gave them a huge 2-0 edge in their PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup Final Four series at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Elasto Painters dropped 36 fourth quarter points with rookie center Raymond Almazan shooting 10, Jeff Chan adding nine and Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga combining for 11 as the series deemed by many to be super close suddenly has a new look.
“We just carved out a hard win today,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao told reporters. “For a while, I thought it was a lost game, but the guys did not give up. It’s a testament to the guys’ determination to win, a testament to their mental toughness.”
Petron led by as many as 16 points in the first half and had a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, making this one look easy compared to its series-opening loss.
But the Painters dug deep in the trenches and never showed signs on giving up as they used the three-point shot to great effect while bottling up June Mar Fajardo on the other end to make a game out of it and pull out the win.
Chan paced all Rain or Shine shooters with 20 points, while Almazan had 15 points like Paul Lee with Belga and Norwood chipping in 11 apiece in a balanced attack that befuddled the Boosters.
Fajardo lost his cool on two occasions, the last at the final 8:02 mark when he got tangled up with Larry Rodriguez. Petron still had an 85-78 lead then, but was never the same the rest of the way.
“It was a physical game. They tried to play us physical,” Guiao said matter-of-factly. “But that’s really right down our game. You have to be mentally into it if you want to play that game. It’s more natural for us than it is for them.
“Two-zero is a good place to be at this point, but we cannot celebrate,” he continued. “We still need to win two more.”
Meanwhile, Alaska will be bringing back Rob Dozier in an effort to revitalize their campaign this season. Dozier led the Aces, who were eliminated by Ginebra in the quarterfinals in this tournament, to the Commissioner’s Cup title last year.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 103—Chan 20, Almazan 15, Lee 15, Belga 11, Norwood 11, Araña 8, Tang 5, Quiñahan 4, Cruz 4, Nuyles 4, Rodriguez 4, Teng 2, Tiu 0, Ibañes 0.
PETRON 94—Fajardo 20, Cabagnot 17, Lassiter 14, Santos 12, Lutz 7, Kramer 6, Hubalde 6, Ross 6, Tubid 4, Taha 2.
Quarters: 18-32, 46-49, 67-78, 103-94
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