Gabe Norwood (RoS) vs Dondon Hontiveros (Alaska). PBA IMAGE/Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Phililpines — Dondon Hontiveros made all of his five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Alaska beat Rain or Shine, 79-76, to make the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Hontiveros fired 15 of his 17 points in the final period, including two straight triples inside the final two minutes that set the final tally.
“I’m very happy for every single one of our players. You saw their effort tonight,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton.
“We had a great preparation. We prepared really hard for Rain or Shine and the way we practice, I promised myself that we’re going to make the Finals,” said Hontiveros.
The best-of-seven championship series starts on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Alaska clashing with well-rested San Miguel Beer, which swept Talk ‘N Text in their semifinals series.
The 37-year-old swingman was 0-of-2 from the field through three quarters but he went off at the perfect time when the Elasto Painters were gaining momentum.
Hontiveros’ first triple tied the game at 64 early in the fourth quarter, his second beat the shot clock and gave the Aces a 67-66 edge, the third — a fade away — made it 71-68 and his last two coming just a little over 30 seconds apart in the final 1:38.
And while Hontiveros found his mark down the stretch, the Painters misfired with Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan and Paul Lee missing potential game-tying triples in the final minute.
Rain or Shine succumbed to Alaska’s topnotch defense in the first half — scoring just 28 points. But after getting some tongue-lashing from its fiery coach Yeng Guiao, the Painters came to their senses and put up 32 points in the third quarter alone.
They led, 60-56, entering the fourth quarter and were still up, 76-73, after a Jonathan Uyloan layup with 2:24 left. And at that point, a deciding Game 7 was looming until Hontiveros’ hot hand burned Rain or Shine’s hopes of another game.
Chan paced the Painters with 14 points while Raymond Almazan had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Calvin Abueva added 15 points and nine rebounds for Alaska, which beat San Miguel Beer in the elimination round.
“San Miguel Beer is the best team in the league,” said Compton, as he braces for another tough series. “They have the last two MVPs of the league in Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo.”
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