RAIN or Shine gunner Paul Lee shoots off Purefoods’ Justin Melton in last night’s game. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / NUKI SABIO, PBA
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao has always considered Purefoods as one of the hardest teams to beat in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Yet, last night, Guiao had the easiest time coaching his Elasto Painters.
Even with just 10 healthy men, the Painters gutted out an 83-74 decision of defending champion Purefoods that kept them in the hunt for an automatic Final Four berth in the Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Purefoods is just one of the hardest teams to beat,” Guiao said. “It was easy coaching the team tonight because the guys wanted to win. I was just changing tired players on the court.”
TY Tang and Jonathan Uyloan, Rain or Shine’s reserve guards who got to see a lot of time because of injuries to four key men, shone the brightest for the Painters in the stretch as they came up with the night’s biggest buckets.
Rain or Shine won a fifth straight game and stayed in solo third with a 7-2 card, just a full game off leaders Alaska and San Miguel Beer.
Rain or Shine kept in step with the much taller Star Hotshots right from the get-go, steadily built a comfortable buffer in the fourth quarter before fending off Purefoods’ spirited closing surge with some great defense.
Tang was fortunate to even close the game, suffering a nasty fall with 9:22 left after being accidentally undercut by Peter June Simon.
The 5-foot-9 Tang, who returned a few minutes later with a band-aid over his right eyebrow after hitting his head on the floor, followed up his own miss to make it 77-72.
And after Justin Melton and Marc Pingris missed short-range jumpers on the other end, Uyloan drained a cold-blooded triple off a pop-out pass by Paul Lee.
Completely drowned by the Rain or Shine win was the upset 98-77 victory that Globalport posted over Barangay Ginebra in the first game, which knocked the Gin Kings out of the outright Final Four race.
Terrence Romeo scored 25 points, rookie Anthony Semerad added 17 and two others finished in twin digits for the Batang Pier, who won their first game under interim coach Eric Gonzales for a 5-5 slate.
Meanwhile, league legend Samboy Lim’s condition has not improved as of press time. He remained unconscious for the second day at Medical City’s Intensive Care Unit.
Reports reaching the PBA said that Lim’s team of doctors has decided to freeze his brain to determine the extent of the damage.
He collapsed during an exhibition game Friday.
Some of Lim’s former teammates at Letran have organized a vigil that started last night at the school campus.
The scores:
First Game
GLOBALPORT 98—Romeo 25, Semerad 17, Cabagnot 15, Jensen 11, Pinto 5, Buenafe 5, De Ocampo 5, Baclao 4, Caperal 3, Ponferada 3, Pringle 2, Nabong 2, Isip 1, Taha 0.
GINEBRA 77—Slaughter 21, Aguilar 14, Tenorio 11, Baracael 10, Yeo 6, Ellis 4, Caguioa 4, Mamaril 3, Helterbrand 2, Brondial 2, Monfort 0, Forrester 0, Urbiztondo 0, Reyes 0.
Quarters: 24-16, 52-31, 75-57, 98-77
Second Game
RAIN OR SHINE 83—Lee 18, Tang 11, Norwood 11, Quinahan 11, Uyloan 9, Belga 7, Cruz Jericho 6, Arana 6, Almazan 4, Ibanes 0, Chan 0.
PUREFOODS 74—Mallari 12, Yap 11, Devance 10, Simon 9, Melton 8, Barroca 8, Pingris 6, Maliksi 5, Reavis 4, Taha 1, Allado 0, Gaco 0, Holstein 0.
Quarters: 16-17, 38-32, 60-54, 83-74