Rain or Shine escapes Ginebra in OT

MANILA, Philippines — A resilient Rain or Shine came from hell and back to withstand Ginebra, 112-105, in game one of the best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 2011 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Staring at a 17-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, the Elastopainters started firing on all cylinders and snatched away the lead from the Kings on a triple by Jeff Chan with 16 seconds remaining.

“We just came back from the jaws of hell. We played with a lot of maturity in this,” said coach Yeng Guiao, as his squad fought back from a 62-79 deficit with 9:18 left in the clock.

Rain or Shine went on to dominate in the extra period, which was forged on Willie Wilson’s equalizer, never allowing Ginebra to take the lead.

A triple by Beau Belga which Paul Lee followed up with a left-handed lay-in set the tone in overtime for the Elastopainters.

Lee towed his squad, which scored 43 points in the fourth quarter alone,  with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists while J.R Quinahan, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, topscored with 21 points along with 11 rebounds.

Gabe Norwood salvaged the game with a crucial offensive rebound in regulation, but muffed his second freethrow which could’ve sealed the victory for Rain or Shine.

Rain or Shine will have a chance to seal the deal when it tangles with Ginebra anew on Sunday, but Guiao is not considering this a won series yet.

“We hope this will be able to fuel us in the semifinals. Ginebra is going to comeback I’m sure,” Guiao said.

The Gin Kings squandered a commanding advantage, and three straight missed freethrows by Enrico Villanueva with less than a minute left didn’t help at all.

Mark Caguiao, who sparked with 24 points and eight rebounds, missed on the game winning attempt from downtown with 7.9 seconds left but the ball fell into Wilson’s hands to even the game.

The Kings lost steam in overtime with Caguiao scoring only two points.