Rain or Shine survives Meralco in OT, makes semis
Rain or Shine’s Wayne Chism tries to elude Meralco’s John Cena and Sunday Salvacion (dark). PHOTO BY NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine bucked a late scoring drought to escape a hard-fighting Meralco side, 97-96, in overtime to book a semifinals ticket in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Wayne Chism continued his resurgence as he poured in a personal conference-high with 37 points to go along with 21 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Elasto Painters.
“It’s another grind out game. Our import, he just carried us on his shoulders. He is just a far more superior import than Jackson and I think that’s our advantage,” said ROS Yeng Guiao, whose squad lost an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter after going scoreless in the final three minutes and 55 seconds of regulation.
Paul Lee added 18 points, including the game-clinching free throws with 5.7 seconds left for the Painters, who arranged a best-of-five semifinals duel with unbeaten Talk ‘N Text which starts on Monday.
“We have one day to prepare against the best team in the league right now which is Talk ‘N Text and we look at that as a challenge,” said Guiao. “And if you want to be the best you have to beat the best, that’s as simple as it gets.”
ROS again built a cushion, 95-87, in the extra session thanks to a 10-2 run kickstarted by Jeff Chan with 1:59 left.
But the Bolts just wouldn’t go away. Not with Gary David, who forced five more minutes of play, 85-all, with a baseline jumper over Chism with four seconds remaining, in the fray.
David quickly hit back-to-back triples that trimmed the deficit down to just two, 93-95, with still 1:16 remaining. Lee turned the ball over in the next play for Rain or Shine but David misfired on a well-contested 3-pointer before Lee calmly sank the insurance freebies.
Darnell Jackson had 31 points and 13 rebounds but scored just 14 points the rest of the way after tallying 17 in the opening period as he, huffing and puffing, was visibly out of steam as the game grew weary.
David wound up with 20 points, 16 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime while Sunday Salvacion added 18 for Meralco, which failed to make the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals for the third time despite leading a best-of-three series 1-0.
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