Beermen hold off E-Painters

RAIN OR SHINE rookie Raymond Almazan (No. 57) reaches for the ball after knocking it off the hands of San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer regained its wits just in time Wednesday night and pounded out a 112-107 victory over Rain or Shine to get back on the winning track in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen blew a 16-point third quarter lead to even trail by three before getting the lift they needed from Chris Ross in bouncing back from their first loss of the conference and rising to 3-1 overall.

“We expect more effort from Chris every time, that’s why he’s our captain,” active assistant Todd Purves told reporters. “Good shooting from him is just icing on the cake.”

Rain or Shine doggedly clawed its way back from 62-78 down but failed to hold on to a 101-98 lead with just over four minutes remaining to fall to 1-2.

Known more for his defense than offense, Ross tossed in a career-high 22 points in 40 minutes, a prolonged exposure since Sol Mercado sat out the game because of a groin injury.

Reigning MVP Arwind Santos was also big in the stretch for the Beermen, canning the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:26 left for 105-104, before Ross scored on a broken play with a left-handed layup with 44.6 seconds to go for more cushion for San Miguel.

The Elasto Painters were error-prone for the night, to say the least, with their last blunder—an intercepted pass by Jeff Chan to import Alex McLean inside—leading to two Santos charities that put the Beermen up, 109-104, 22.1 seconds remaining.

San Miguel import Kevin Jones is now 1-1 with the Beermen after 33 points and 15 boards.

Santos finished with 19 points, while Ross also had 10 assists and a night-high five steals.

Meanwhile, PBA commissioner Chito Salud will meet  representatives of three prospective expansion teams on Monday to determine their financial capabilities in their bid to join the pro league.

Representatives of Ever Bilena, KIA Motors Philippines and NLEX will meet with Salud at the league’s offices in Libis, Quezon City.

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL BEER 112—Jones 33, Ross 22, Lassiter 19, Santos 19, Fajardo 11, Duncil 3 Tubid 3, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 0, Hubalde 0, Lutz 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 107—McLean 33, Lee 13, Belga 12, Chan 9, Arana 8, Almazan 8, Tiu 8, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 4, Uyloan 2, Teng 2, Cruz 0, Tang 0.

Quarters: 27-26, 56-51, 88-82, 112-107

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