Painters draw first blood, pip Beermen

VERSATILE Rain or Shine guard Gabe Norwood (right) stops San Miguel Beer import Tyler Wilkerson from scoring an easy basket in the paint in last night’s semifinal encounter at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

RAIN or Shine’s Elasto Painters proved their coach Yeng Guiao wrong in Game 1 of their Final Four series with old nemesis San Miguel Beer in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

And after acknowledging his misread of the encounter, Guiao admitted he only has happy thoughts against an enemy he has failed to conquer for most of the past year.

“I almost gave up on the guys, but they didn’t give up on me,” Guiao said after his Painters clawed back from 18 points down to pull off a 98-94 victory and draw first blood in their best-of-five series at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao last night.

“I told them [at halftime] that we would be lucky to win one game in this series,” Guiao added. “They proved me wrong. It’s just one of those comebacks that will linger in your memory.”

Rookie Maverick Ahanmisi drilled in a career-high 23 points and import Pierre Henderson-Niles had nine of his 13 in the fourth period as the Painters put away the Beermen to take the momentum going into tomorrow’s Game 2.

Rain or Shine won a total of just three games in the last two series it played against San Miguel— which went on to win both tournaments—and the Painters still came into this series as the decided underdogs despite beating the Beermen, 108-105, in their elimination-round clash.

“We are looking forward to the rest of this series, which we might win this time,” Guiao said. “As great as their import (Tyler Wilkerson) and June Mar (Fajardo) were playing, we pulled through.

“It was a great testament to the character of this team. Everybody helped out. We pulled through in this crucial game as a team.”

Rain or Shine gutted out the win even with Henderson-Niles playing less than half a game because of foul trouble and even after Wilkerson drilled in 40 points and Fajardo 23.

Even without Henderson-Niles in the third quarter, the Painters managed to chop down a 50-40 halftime deficit to just three going into the fourth, where Rain or Shine got a lift from almost everyone on both ends.

Jeff Chan was also big in the final frame, draining seven, including the go-ahead triple with 63 seconds left that made it 95-94, before Ahanmisi sealed the deal with three free throws.

The winner of this series will advance to face the survivor of the Alaska-Meralco matchup in the championship playoffs. The Bolts and the Aces open their separate best-of-five clash at 7 p.m. today, also at the Big Dome.

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, Ponferada 4, Tiu 2, Ibanes 0, Nimes 0.

SAN MIGUEL 94—Wolkerson 40, Fajardo 23, Cabagnot 15, Ross 7, Lassiter 3, Santos 3, Tubid 3, Espinas 0, Luts 0,

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