RAIN OR SHINE FIRMLY IN CONTROL

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Rain or Shine lost one of its top guns to an injury in the second quarter and its bench chieftain to a second technical foul in the third period but kept its steely resolve and inched to the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup Finals with a tough, crucial 88-83 win over Petron Blaze at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Monday night.

Minus Paul Lee and coach Yeng Guiao, the Elasto Painters stuck with each other and carved out the improbable victory that gave them a commanding 3-1 lead in their side of the best-of-seven semifinal playoffs.

“Any team made up of softer materials would’ve folded up,” said Guiao after the game.

“The guys just didn’t give up. They won this game on their own. I have nothing in this victory,” said Guiao. “They lost Paul and they lost me, but they kept their fighting hearts with them. We beat them against the odds.”

The E-Painters defied overwhelming odds as they bounced back from their 73-106 blowout loss in Game Three and thus gained three cracks at wrapping up the series.

They take their first shot at a return stint in the all-Filipino finals in Game Five Friday also at the Big Dome. Rain or Shine was swept by Talk n Text in the finale last season.

“We got closer to our desired destiny, but it’s not a guarantee. We still have to carve out another win, and it would be more difficult the next time,” said Guiao.

The E-Painters willed themselves to victory in Game Four, surviving Junmar Fajardo’s career-best 27-point performance.

Jeff Chan and Beau Belga nailed clutch baskets and the rest of the fierce-fighting RoS squad put together solid effort on the defensive end as they held Petron to a single point in the last six minutes of play.

Chan scored on a tough perimeter shot to shatter the 82-all standoff then Belga rifled in a baseline three-pointer to stretch their lead to five with 1:53 left to play.

Fajardo dominated early on with his strong inside attacks but huffed and puffed at winning time.

He was a spent force in the end having to go through constant banging through his 44 minutes of presence on the floor.

Belga picked up four quick fouls but finished the game and able to deliver key numbers in the clutch.

Lee went down with a badly sprained left ankle midway through the second period while Guiao was tossed out of the game for incurring a second technical foul with 6:15 left in the third and the E-Painters trailing, 54-60.

The Elasto Painters were hardly demoralized, though, and instead played like men on a mission to pull through.

“It’s a testimony to the character of the guys,” said Guiao.

Petron opened the game with a 16-6 salvo and weathered the instant firepower came up by the RoS second group as the Boosters took the half at 50-48.

JR Quinahan and Lee came out firing, unloading three straight treys to highlight an attack pushing the Elasto Painters up front, 33-28, after the first period.

The Boosters, however, recovered in the second quarter, sending the E-Painters to early penalty situation and cashing in on it with 10-of-18 charities.

Petron was still down at 39-40 when Lee chased a streaking Chris Ross and flew high to challenge the Fil-Am guard’s strong drive to the basket. Lee committed a foul and worse, twisted his left ankle on his way down to the floor.

He was carried to their bench and never returned.

The rest of the E-Painters, however, stayed together with their steely resolve. (SB)

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