Painters battle back, beat Beermen in semis opener

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Rain or Shine clawed back from 18-points down to beat San Miguel Beer, 98-94, and take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinals series in the 2016 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Rookie Maverick Ahanmisi played the game of his life as he kept the Elasto Painters in the game after falling behind big early. Pierre Henderson-Niles tied the game at 87 to set up the cardiac finish before Jeff Chan nailed a booming trey for a 95-94 edge near the final minute.

“It’s one of those comebacks that will linger in your memory,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao. “I almost gave up on the guys, but the guys did not give up on me.”

Marcio Lassiter misfired on an open triple on the other end, and Wilkerson turned the ball over with 30.5 ticks left as Ahanmisi iced the game at the free throw line.

Ahanmisi finished with a career-high 23 points that went with nine rebounds, and four assists.

Henderson-Niles tallied 13 points and nine boards in a foul-plagued outing while Jericho Cruz added 11 points.

“At halftime, I was really frustrated. I told the guys, ‘We’ll be lucky to win one game in this series.’ They proved their coach wrong. As great as their import is playing and as great as June Mar (Fajardo) is playing, we pulled out the win. That’s a great testament to the character of this team,” said Guiao. “We pulled through the win with team effort. Everybody helped up. We just pulled through this crucial test as a team altogether.”

Game 2 is on Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum, as Rain or Shine hopes to finally take down San Miguel in a semis series after losing the past two conferences.

“We’re looking at a series which we might win this time. We didn’t give up. The guys didnt give up. I almost gave up, but it’s a credit to the guys,” said Guiao.

Tyler Wilkerson poured 20 of his 40 points in the first quarter, but failed to sustain his hot-shooting. He also collected 11 rebounds and three blocks.

June Mar Fajardo had 23 markers and 13 boards, while Alex Cabagnot got 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 98 – Ahanmisi 23, Henderson-Niles 13, Cruz 11, Chan 10, Almazan 8, Lee 8, Norwood 8, Quinahan 7, Belga 4, Ponferrada 4, Tiu 2, Ibanes 0, Nimes 0.

SAN MIGUEL 94 – Wilkerson 40, Fajardo 23, Cabagnot 15, Ross 7, Lassiter 3, Santos 3, Tubid 3, Espinas 0, Lutz 0.

Quarters: 17-33, 40-50, 72-75, 98-94.