No regrets for Belga as Rain or Shine goes down swinging

Beau Belga of Rain or Shine (light) vs Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Beau Belga had no room for regrets even after Rain or Shine yielded the PBA Philippine Cup crown to San Mig Coffee Wednesday night, knowing that the Elastopainters came down swinging.

The fact that Rain or Shine didn’t cower at the sight of an early-17 point deficit and managed to turn the tables around in the third quarter softened the blow even a little bit for Belga.

“It’s not totally painful,” Belga admitted.” It was a good game, a good series. We fought back, we had a chance and we just came up short.”

Paul Lee, whose efforts down the stretch proved to be Rain or Shine’s last gasp before the Mixers took it all the way, 93-87, offered a more terse answer.

“We took the lead, then we couldn’t convert after that and we couldn’t stop Mark Barroca. That’s it,” Lee said in an interview after the game.

The near-walkout early in the second quarter had a lot to do with the Elastopainters’ turnaround, which broke the Mixers’ momentum as San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone admitted. By the half’s end, they were only trailing by six.

Belga said it served as a “wake up call” for the Elastopainters to step up and not simply hand over the championship to the Mixers.

“We were lacking energy. Maybe the reason why coach did that was to wake us up so we can start paying right. And we responded well,” Belga said. “I have no regrets.”

Lee also admitted that the walkout pumped them up, saying “It was evident that our coach really wanted to win. We showed how much we wanted to win and that we weren’t going to give up that easily.”

With the opening of the Commissioner’s Cup just a week away, Belga is confident that the bitter finals loss will only make the Elastopainters stronger.

“This was a very good lesson for us, and we’ll carry this to the next conference. We’ll get better,” said Belga, whose squad will plunge back to practice on Monday.

“No vacation. This is our job. Next conference is going to be good for us. I’m sure everyone will step up after this series. It’s going to be a good one.”

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