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Beermen rally, beat Painters in Game 1 of semis
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San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo takes a shot against four Rain or Shine defenders during Game 1 of the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals Tuesday night at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
For quite a while, it seemed June Mar Fajardo was about to do all the work for San Miguel Beer against Rain or Shine Tuesday.
Then the other Beermen sprung into life when they were needed, resulting in a come-from-behind 109-105 victory over the Elasto Painters at the start of their 2016 Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Fajardo wound up with 36 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots, but the help provided by the likes of Arwind Santos, Ronald Tubid and Chris Ross were of immense help as the defending champion came charging back from as many as 22 points down to ultimately steal the win.
Santos notched 15 points and 16 rebounds, including eight caroms in the final quarter, while Ross scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, capped by a go-ahead trey. Tubid, meanwhile, matched Fajardo’s period output with 11 of his 15 points.
“I don’t know what to say… this is unbelievable,” quipped SMB coach Leo Austria, whose team refused to give up despite staring at a 71-91 deficit at the start of the fourth period.
“We were down by 18 or so, but I have to give credit to Ronald, Chris Ross and June Mar. They really brought the effort kung kailan kailangan.”
A little halftime pep talk, primarily aimed at SMB’s relievers, also didn’t hurt.
“I told them na 60% ng points ng Rain or Shine come from their bench while sa amin 60% come from our starters,” related Austria. “I told my players na if our starters are playing well you have to sustain it.”
It was a loss that would surely haunt Rain or Shine for the remainder of the best-of-seven series, although coach Yeng Guiao was quick to point out it was just one game.
“We just need to put this behind us,” said Guiao. “It’s a very disappointing loss, but it’s a long series. We just have to learn from the lessons of today. We don’t want this game to stop us from doing what we need to do. I guess we need to look at this positively. The game was ours to lose, we can’t blame anybody but ourselves.”
Beau Belga and JR Quinahan each had 19 points and Jericho Cruz 16 and Chris Tiu 12, but the E-Painters went a collective 6-for-18 from the field and committed six turnovers in the final canto.
As a result, Rain or Shine scored only 14 points in the final canto while Fajardo and Tubid scattered 11 apiece and Santos nine. A telling 19-5 surge, capped by Ross’ surprise triple, pushed the Beermen up from an 89-100 deficit and into a 108-105 lead, still 1:32 left.
“Si Ross ang nagbigay ng energy du’n, e,” noted Austria of the playmaker who finished with seven points and a career-high seven steals. “Turning point iyung three points ni Chris Ross. Salute to him. He keeps on practicing his shots.”
Playing in his first game of the season Paul Lee scored all eight of his points in the fourth period, but dimmed Rainn or Shine’s chances by losing the ball to Ross and then issuing a pass that went way over Belga. His triple try for an equalizer also rattled out.
Jeff Chan also went scoreless for the first time in the conference despite four attempts, his last miss a short triple try inside the last 10 seconds.
Santos then canned a free throw for a 109-105 count to seal scoring, only 3.1 ticks left.
The ending was a far cry from the fiery form Rain or Shine displayed earlier, including the final 2:23 of the third period that saw the E-Painters having Cruz scoring five points in a 10-0 run to make it a 20-point game.
Fajardo already had 19 points at the half, but Rain or Shine displayed a more balanced offensive that resulted in a 68-50 cushion. Those points are the most in a playoff game since Star scored 73 against GlobalPort in last season’s Governors Cup quarterfinals.
Quinahan, Belga, Tiu and Cruz all have a big hand in that hot start as each had at least nine points, enabling the E-Painters to unleash one surge after another to easily raze an early 4-8 deficit and zoom ahead by as much as 68-46.
Unable to provide the much-needed help for Fajardo early on were Santos, Alex Cabagnot and fellow starter Ryan Arana while the Beermen’s bench were outscored by their counterparts 11-33 in the first half alone.
That resulted in Rain or Shine taking a 31-21 lead at the end of the opening period and stretching the difference to 19 points twice before Belga highlighted his 16-point half with six straight points to make it a 22-point gap.
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