PBA Semis: Casio comes up big as Powerade escapes Rain or Shine for 3-2 lead

MANILA, Philippines – JVee Casio came up with a huge basket down the stretch as Powerade eked out a win against Rain Or Shine, 110-108, and moved to within a win of barging into the finals of the 2011 PBA Philippine Cup.

Marco Lassiter came up with clutch freethrows for 19 points and Gary David finished with 28 as the Tigers are also a win away from making it to the finals for the first time since Coca-cola made it in 2003.

Casio scored four straight points, including a long two and one with 36.6 seconds left, and brought the Tigers back to the game after being down 103-108.

“I knew that there was a game in this series where JVee [Casio] would shine,” said head coach Bo Perasol of Casio, who finished with 25 points and three assists.

Lassiter made three-of-four free throws in the final 15 seconds, and swatted home J.R. Quinahan’s attempt to tie the game as the clock wound down.

The Elastopainters assumed the lead anew behind T.Y. Tang’s heroics in the fourth quarter, but simply could not pull away from the Tigers.

Quinahan led Rain or Shine, which has a chance to tie the series on Sunday, with 18 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Arana added 15 points.

Two others finished in double digits for the Elastopainters as Jireh Ibanez Larry Rodriguez scored 13 and 12, respectively.