Painters stay alive

BEau Belga of Rain or Shine (dark) vs Tony Dela Cruz of Alaska (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines–Beau Belga scored Rain or Shine’s final four points and helped the Elasto Painters survive Alaska in overtime, 123-121, Thursday night to also take this half of the PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four series into a deciding Game 5 on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The burly Belga finished with a career-high-tying 21 points that went with 10 rebounds, the last of those boards and points coming with 12.7 seconds remaining when he followed up an Arizona Reid miss for what turned out to be the final count.

It will take two knockout matches to determine the finalists of the season-ending tournament, with Talk ‘N Text and defending champion San Mig Coffee slugging it out at 8 p.m. Friday, also at the Big Dome in Cubao.

Alaska played the final 6:24 of the fourth without import Henry Walker, who was tossed out after planting an elbow to the back of the head of Paul Lee.

His ejection somehow sparked the Aces, who roared back from a 105-97 deficit to eventually forge overtime at 115-115 after a JV Casio short stab with just over four seconds remaining.

Rain or Shine made the most out of a lucky break it got with 33 seconds remaining, when Casio, who was going for a breakaway layup to snap a 121-all tie, slipped and twisted his left ankle to lose possession that led to that Belga follow-up.

“We got lucky today,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who didn’t mince words in saying what he thought of Walker. “I think he’s a menace to the league and he’s a big bully.”

The Elasto Painters, the losing finalists here last season, also got a big lift from an injured Gabe Norwood, who played through a lot of pain in his right ankle to do a lot of the intangibles for Rain or Shine.

THE SCORES:

RAIN OR SHINE 123—Reid 32, Belga 21, Lee 21, Almazan 14, Chan 11, Araña 8, Norwood 7, Ibañes 3, Cruz 2, Tiu 2, Rodriguez 2.

ALASKA 121—Hontiveros 21, Baguio 21, Abueva 19, Casio 17, Walker 16, Thoss 11, Jazul 6, Manuel 6, Espinas 4, Dela Cruz 0.

Quarters: 38-24, 60-59, 96-91, 115-115, 123-121