After two losses, Fuller puts Painters in position to tie series

Rain or Shine import Aaron Fuller knew that it isn’t impossible to get out of a 0-3 hole in a best-of-seven semifinal series.

But against a traditional powerhouse looking to keep its lofty perch in the PBA Governors’ Cup? Fuller chose not to go through the trouble of fighting through that deficit during the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals Game 3 on Sunday night.

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One of the many Elasto Painters who finally got going in the series against TNT, Fuller hit a layup to tie the game with 3.8 seconds remaining and then iced the game with a freebie, 110-109, ultimately putting his club on the board, 2-1, in the race-to-four affair for a Finals berth.

“It’s not impossible to come back from, but it’s a tall order to try to come back from a 0-3 (deficit),” the American forward said on the heels of a 26-point, 16-rebound job fashioned at City of Dasmariñas Arena in Cavite.

“Like coach (Yeng Guiao) said, we had other people step up and help out as well. It wasn’t just me, it was a total team effort. And I’m glad we were able to get a stop in the end and get this win,” he added.

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Helping out Fuller against a TNT squad feeding off a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson triple-double and a Poy Erram resurgence was Santi Santillan, who finally got his bearings after getting an earful from Guiao.

“I was really hard on Santi the last two games. I was expecting a lot more from him. And it’s a good thing he responded. He has heard a lot from me,” the fiery mentor said.

“You can really see the character of a person with how he responds to something like that. And he did respond. That’s a good sign of his personality, his greatness. He proved himself. I bet he was tired of getting yelled and cussed at. That’s why he showed me something,” Guiao said with a smirk.

Santillan had 20 points and six rebounds to lead Rain or Shine’s locals as the club finally found ways to clean up its act and rediscover its offensive form that has brought them to this stage of the conference in the first place.

“I guess one of the reasons why we lost two games is we just kept turnover and giving [Tropang Giga] opportunities to get out in transition. Today, we were able to manage some of our turnovers, especially in the second half. And also, it has become a high-scoring game, and in high-scoring games, our chances of winning the game are better,” Guiao said.

“We were just looking to break the ice,” he added. “It’s tough beating TNT player for player. You’ll just have to find a hole to get through that team.”

And that is exactly what Rain or Shine hopes to do in Game 4 this Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. INQ

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