RAIN OR SHINE TAKES COMMANDING 2-0 LEAD

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Rain or Shine took a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals series at the 2014 PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup with a come-from-behind 103-94 Game 2 win over Petron Blaze Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“We just carved out a hard win today. For a while, I thought it was a lost game, but the guys did not give up,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. “Its a testament to the guys’ determination to win, and a testament to their mental toughness.”

Chan had nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter on a 5-of-9 shooting from rainbow country, while rookie Raymond Almazan played big in the end game, nailing 10 of his 15 points in the payoff period, to go with five rebounds.

Lee had 15 points, five boards, and five dimes, while Beau Belga and Gabe Norwood combined for 22 markers and 10 rebounds.

Guiao praised the effort of his rookie big man in the payoff period as the former Letran standout stood tall and more than held his ground against Petron Blaze top man and Best Player of the Conference frontrunner June Mar Fajardo.

“Raymond played like a veteran tonight,” he said. “He made big shots, he hauled in big rebounds, and he had big stops. Tonight, he looked like 250 pounds and he did it when it counted the most, here in the semifinals. That’s his championship experience from Letran.”

Faced with a 16-point deficit in the first half and as much as a 72-85 hole with 9:23 left in the fourth quarter, the Elasto Painters slowly chipped away at the Boosters’ lead behind Chan, Norwood, Almazan and Belga.

Rain or Shine actually outscored Petron Blaze 36-16 in the final 12 minutes of play.

“(Petron) was in control for the most part of the game but the guys just did not give up. They (Boosters) tried to play as physical as they can, but that’s really right down our game. That’s what we want our game to be. You have to be mentally into it to win the game and the physicality is more natural for us,” Guiao said.

Fajardo had 20 points for Petron, to go with his nine rebounds and two blocks, while Alex Cabagnot had 17 in the losing effort.

Marcio Lassiter had 14 markers, while reigning MVP Arwind Santos failed to deliver in the clutch, as he went scoreless in the fourth although he still finished with 12 points.

“2-0 is a good place to be at this point, but we cannot celebrate,” the fiery E-Painters coach said. “We still need to win two more games. They did a good job in stopping our breaks and slowing down the game, but we’ll just prepare for them by Saturday.”

Game 3 will still be on the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday with the game’s tip-off at 3:30 p.m. (RL)

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 103 – Chan 20, Almazan 15, Lee 15, Belga 11, Norwood 11, Arana 8, Tang 5, Quinahan 4, Cruz 4, Nuyles 4, Rodriguez 4, Teng 2, Tiu 0, Ibanes 0.

PETRON BLAZE 94 – Fajardo 20, Cabagnot 17, Lassiter 14, Santos 12, Lutz 7, Kramer 6, Hubalde 6, Ross 6, Tubid 4, Taha 2.

Quarterscores: 18-32, 46-49, 67-78, 103-94.

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