DEFENDING CHAMPION RAIN OR SHINE MARCHES TO FINAL 4
RAIN or Shine finally shook off the memories of a bitter loss. It’s now time to look forward to reprising a definitely more pleasant experience.
The Elasto Painters did not let their twice-to-beat advantage go to waste this time by eking out a 108-106 victory over Globalport Thursday to return to the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Arizona Reid scored 25 points and got plenty of help from the likes of Ryan Arana, Jervy Cruz and Gabe Norwood down the stretch in fending off the challenge of the gritty Batang Pier.
None of the shots Rain or Shine made was bigger than the one by Norwood, who boomed in a triple from the right corner to give his team a 107-103 lead, only 17.8 seconds left.
Following a Markeith Cummings miss, Arana capped his 12-point fourth quarter with a charity that made it a five-point game and the E-Painters and their supporters started celebrating even as Cummings pegged the final score with an inconsequential triple.
“The important thing is we hit some big shots. Ryan hit some big shots and Gabe hit the biggest shot, I think, and we were able to ride out a win over a ballclub which seems to be getting better every game,” said Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao.
As a result, the defending champions made it to the best-of-five semis starting Monday with their opponent the winner of the other quarterfinal pairing between Petron Blaze and Barangay Ginebra.
At the same time, the E-Painters finally shrugged off the bitter memories of a blown win-once advantage over the Kings in the Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.
It’s not that the specter of that tournament was not haunting Guiao and his charges, especially after Globalport took control of the game from the start and even had a 12-point third quarter lead.
“The memory of the last conference is still fresh in our minds, so there was a little bit of pressure,” admitted Guiao. “Globalport was also playng well and they really had a chance to win, so the thought was bothering us.”
Cummings led all scorers with 29 points while Sol Mercado added 22 and Washington and Gary David 18 each for Globalport, which could console itself for finishing fifth in the eliminations and stands to wind up no lower than seventh, still its highest placing yet.
Arana wound up with 16 points and Paul Lee 14 before leaving the game for good due to a right calf muscle injury, 2:30 left in the third period.
Rain or Shine won despite missing 16 of its 43 free throw attempts, getting outrebounded 47-53 and making just 36 of 89 field goal attempts.
What helped along Globalport’s elimination was the ejection of head coach Junel Baculi for incurring his second technical still 2:08 left in the third period and his team barely ahead 74-73. He got slapped a separate ‘T’ in the second quarter.
“It was a big break for us, coach Junel Baculi being ejected,” said Guiao, known to be a technical foul rod and who also got teed up just 22 seconds before his counterpart.
“It’s like deja vu, like seeing myself walking out,” he said. “Actually, naunahan lang ako, pero it was really a big break for us.” (NC)
The scores:
Rain or Shine 108 – Reid 25, Arana 16, Lee 14, Cruz 12, Tiu 10, Norwood 9, Belga 7, Quinahan 7, Chan 6, Rodriguez 2, Uyloan 0, Matias 0, Tang 0, Ibanes 0.
Globalport 106 – Cummings 29, Mercado 22, Washington 18, David 18, Nabong 5, Taha 4, Lingganay 4, Salvador 4, Miller 2, Belencion 0, Alonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 23-34, 49-53, 77-78, 108-106
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