Video by NOY MORCOSO III/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Jeff Chan waxed hot in the payoff period and towed Rain or Shine to an 81-74 win over San Mig Coffee on Sunday to drag the PBA Philippine Cup finals to a game six.
Chan exploded with 24 points for the Elastopainters and went on a personal 10-0 blast to start the fourth quarter to give them a significant 69-60 lead after a lackadaisical first half.
The Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout also drilled in a tough fadeaway shot over PJ Simon from the left corner with under a minute to play that gave Rain or Shine with a safe 79-72 lead.
“We could’ve won game 3 and 4, it could’ve gone either way, but we couldn’t get Jeff [Chan] and Paul [Lee] to explode at the same time. But now both of them made that contribution,” head coach Yeng Guiao said.
Lee scored eight points and was hampered by foul trouble but had a crucial fadeaway with two minutes and half left in the match.
The Elastopainters still trailed the Mixers, 2-3, but have chance to tie the best-of-seven series on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We’re still behind in the series, one thing we can promise the fans is we will fight it out to the end,” said head coach Yeng Guiao. “We’re still looking to win the championship.”
“Who knows? A big win like this can turn the complexion around in our favor. The guys really wanted to win today,” Guiao added.
Gabe Norwood, who added seven markers, was also crucial in crunch time, knocking down a clutch triple also from the left corner that halted James Yap’s momentum to a 77-72 lead.
Yap scored eight straight markers, including two backbreaking treys, to pull the Mixers within two before Norwood’s three-pointer.
Yap led the Mixers, who only need one more victory to collect their 11th title, with 18 points while do-it-all forward Marc Pingris bucked an eye injury to also finish with 18.