PBA: No let ups as Rain or Shine trips San Miguel to tie semis

Jeff Chan leads the Elastopainters. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Rain or Shine completed what it couldn’t do in Game 1.

The Elasto Painters made sure there won’t be any meltdown this time, finishing San Miguel off with a 105-97 win in Game 2 to equalize their 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series to one game apiece Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s almost the same story all over again. Fortunately for us, it was a different ending,” said coach Yeng Guiao.

Learning from its miscues two days prior, Rain or Shine hammered the Beermen from the get-go, establishing a 25-point lead, 59-34, early in the third quarter thanks to a Beau Belga bucket.

San Miguel trimmed the lead down to just nine, 68-59, before Paul Lee and Don Trollano brought the deficit back to 21 early in the fourth.

Though June Mar Fajardo and the Beermen pulled to within five in clutch, Rain or Shine had an answer this time courtesy of two huge treys from Jeff Chan that put the game away for good.

“We couldn’t afford to make the same mistakes we did in Game 1. If were down 0-2, the series is over. With San Miguel, you cant really get down 0-2,” said Guiao. “It is important for us to get the win and make it a best-of-5 series.”

Jeff Chan led the balanced attack for the Elasto Painters with 16 points and four assists, while Trollano finished with 13 markers.

JR Quiñahan added 12 points and eight rebounds, Lee got 11 markers, seven boards, and three dimes, and Gabe Norwood and Raymond Almazan both finished with 10.

Game 3 is on Saturday at the same venue.

Fajardo once again imposed his will for the Beermen with a monster performance of 38 points and 17 rebounds. Unfortunately, the supporting cast didn’t do enough to pull the win through for San Miguel, with only six other Beermen logging points in the stat sheet.

Alex Cabagnot had 24 markers, while Marcio Lassiter wound up with 13.

The Scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 105 – Chan 16, Trollano 13, Quinahan 12, Lee 11, Almazan 10, Norwood 10, Ahanmisi 9, Cruz 8, Belga 7, Ponferrada 6, Tiu 3.
SAN MIGUEL 97 – Fajardo 38, Cabagnot 24, Lassiter 13, Santos 10, Tubid 7, Lutz 3, Espinas 2, Arana 0, De Ocampo 0, Heruela 0, Reyes 0, Ross 0, Omolon 0.

Quarters: 31-15, 49-34, 79-65, 105-97.