Photo by Nuki Sabio/PBA
Rookie Paul Lee knocked in a cold-blooded triple with 2.6 seconds left as Rain or Shine slipped past Barangay Ginebra, 93-90, to stay unbeaten in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Lee finished with 18 points, but none bigger than his dagger of a trey over the outstretched arms of Rudy Hatfield in the dwindling seconds that sealed the Painters’ fourth straight victory.
The Painters nearly wasted a solid fourth quarter, before import Jamelle Cornley gave them a lifeline with a steal on Cedric Bozeman to set the stage for Lee’s heroics.
“He’s (Lee) not afraid to take the ball in his hands with the game on the line,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
Lee waved off a pick by Cornley and found himself one-on-one against Hatfield. With a little breathing space, Lee launched the triple that once again broke the hearts of the Gin Kings, who fell to 2-2.
“We wanted the ball in Cornley’s hands but we trusted him (Paul) to make the right play,” said Guiao.
Cornley wound up with 27 points, including 16 in the second half, aside from grabbing 14 boards. Jeff Chan matched Lee’s output with 18 points for the Elasto Painters, who continued their sizzling shooting.
Earlier, B-Meg put premium on defense down the stretch to hammer out an 88-83 victory over Meralco.
The Llamados improved to 3-1 in a tie with idle Petron. With Mark Giongco, INQUIRER.net
The scores:
First Game
B-MEG 88—Blakely 31, Yap 19, Pingris 10, De Ocampo 9, Villanueva 6, Urbiztondo 5, Intal 4, Reavis 4, Acuna 0, Barroca 0.
MERALCO 83—Cardona 27, Ross 18, Oguchi 12, Taulava 8, Hugnatan 4, Bulawan 2, Reyes 1, Daa 0, Macapagal 0, Artadi 0.
Quarters: 19-17, 40-39, 66-66, 88-83
Second Game:
RAIN OR SHINE 93—Cornley 27, Lee 18, Chan 18, Buenafe 9, Ibanes 7, Cruz 6, Norwood 4, Belga 2, Quinahan 2, Arana 0.
GINEBRA 90—Bozeman 22, Caguioa 18, Raymundo 12, Cortez 10, Maliksi 9, Hatfield 8, Ababou 5, Maierhofer 2, Wilson 2, Mamaril 0, Helterbrand 0.
Quarters: 27-27, 45-49, 70-72, 93-90
Originally posted at 10:35 pm | Wednesday, June 06, 2012