ARWIND Santos of San Miguel Beer barrels into the defense of Rain or Shine’s Chris Tiu in last night’s encounter. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Finishing solidly for the second straight game, Rain or Shine took the full measure of June Mar Fajardo and San Miguel Beer and won out in an old-fashioned endgame shootout to assume the driver’s seat in their Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup Final Four series.
The Elasto Painters got big buckets from several men in the stretch and gang-defended all game long to score a 111-106 victory over the fancied Beermen for a 2-1 lead in their very physical semifinal series at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao Saturday night.
Though now ahead of the best-of-seven series, the rest of this match-up made Rain or Shine the underdog even more as it looked like the Painters could have lost Jericho Cruz to a knee injury after a scary play in the final five seconds.
“This was a very hard win for us and we had to pay a big price for winning,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who already lost center Raymond Almazan after Friday’s practice because of an ankle sprain, said.
“We’re hoping that the injury is not that serious, though it didn’t look good from our standpoint,” Guiao said.
With the Painters protecting a 107-106 lead, Cruz chased down a long rebound after a Marcio Lassiter miss and was bumped hard by the San Miguel gunner, causing Cruz to land awkwardly with all his weight on his left knee.
The sophomore guard was taken out in a stretcher, and with Lassiter being slapped with a flagrant foul 1, Chris Tiu came in and made two free throws as Rain or Shine retained possession.
Tiu put the game away with another pair of charities off Chris Lutz’s final foul with 3.9 to go as the Painters sealed a second straight victory in the series.
“This is another opportunity for the other guys to step up,” Guiao said on the prospect of playing without Almazan and Cruz for the rest of the series.
Fajardo led the Beermen with 40 points and 20 rebounds, and Guiao didn’t mince words in blasting officiating yet again.
“We are lucky we won two straight games kahit sobrang alagang alaga nila (referees) si Fajardo,” Guiao said.
Meanwhile, Alaska tries to move within a win of annexing the first title series slot Sunday when the Aces battle a reeling GlobalPort squad at 5 p.m. also at the Big Dome in Cubao.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 111—Lee 18, Belga 14, Chan 13, Norwood 13, Ponferada 12, Tiu 12, Ahanmisi 10, Quinahan 8, Cruz 6, Nimes 5, Trollano 0.
SAN MIGUEL BEER 106—Fajardo 40, Lassiter 22, Santos 12, Tubid 11, Cabagnot 8, Lutz 6, Espinas 5, Reyes 2, Araña 0, Ross 0.
Quarters: 26-27, 58-50, 78-86, 111-106