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Rain or Shine rallies, stuns SMB in semis opener
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Trailing by as many as 18 points against powerhouse San Miguel Beer early and getting little from his own charges, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao almost gave up.
Jeff Chan and Maverick Ahanmisi were quick to change his mind, however.
Chan and Ahanmisi came up with the crucial plays in the stretch, enabling the Elasto Painters to eke out a 98-94 win over the Beermen Sunday at the start of their Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The duo’s endgame heroics propped Rain or Shine against its import being hobbled by foul trouble and the monster games from Tyler Wilkerson and June Mar Fajardo as it pulled off the opening stunner in the best-of-five duel.
“It’s just one of those comebacks that will linger in your memory,” said Guiao, who has not won against SMB in two previous series, the last a 2-4 defeat in the season-opening Philippine Cup semis.
Certainly, the way the victory was fashioned will stick in Guiao’s mind. “I almost gave up on the guys, but the guys didn’t give up on me. I old them at halftime that with the way we are playing we would be lucky to win one game. But they proved their coach wrong.
“As great as Wilkerson was playing, as great as June Mar was playing, we pulled out a win. It’s a testament to the character of this team.”
No one typified that mettle more than Chan, who capped his 10 fourth quarter points with a triple that pushed Rain or Shine ahead 95-94, still 63 seconds to go.
Ahanmisi also proved steady as he highlighted his new career-high 23 points with three charities that iced the game. He also finished with nine rebounds after his offensive board led to that Chan trey.
Pierre Henderson-Niles got called for his fourth foul late in the third quarter and a fifth with still 7:21 to go. But he did have nine of his 13 points in the fourth period and also wound up with nine rebounds despite being limited to just under 22 minutes of action.
Jericho Cruz, Beau Belga, Paul Lee and Raymond Almazan were also foremost among the E-Painters who did their part as they now brace themselves for an expected Beermen fightback in Game 2 Tuesday.
“Team effort,” said Guiao. “We did not rely on our import because of foul trouble, Paul gave us good minutes and everybody helped out, even the guys on the bench. We pulled through this crucial test as a team and we’re now looking forward to the rest of this series which we might win this time.”
The victory also gave Guiao more confidence than he had when his team trailed by 11-29 in the first period and by 40-50 at the half. “I’m sure this gives us some advantage, but I don’t know if it will push us into winning (this series),” he said.
“We just have to play each game as hard as we played today in order to produce more wins against not only San Miguel but these other (playoff) teams. It’s a good sign.”
Wilkerson wound up with 40 points and 11 rebounds, but went just 3-for-9 from the floor and committed three of his five turnovers in the payoff period. His passing error led to Ahanmisi’s freebies that made it 97-94, only 22 ticks left.
Fajardo notched 23 points and 13 rebounds and his off-balanced jumper gave SMB a 94-92 lead. But that would prove to be the Beermen’s last points in the game’s final 1:32.
After uncharacteristically scoring just four points in a series-clinching win over Star last Wednesday, Alex Cabagnot bounced back with 15 points, including 11 in the third period that helped keep SMB ahead 75-72.
Momentum was clearly on Rain or Shine’s side by then with Niles’ four-point string tying the count for the first time at 82. Three more deadlocks ensued after that, the last at 92 on Wilkerson’s charity split, and the E-Painters missed a chance to go ahead when Chan missed a step back trey.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 98 – Ahanmisi 23, Henderson-Niles 13, Cruz 11, Chan 10, Almazan 8, Lee 8, Norwood 8, Quinahan 7, Belga 4, Ponferrada 4, Tiu 2, Ibanes 0, Nimes 0.
SAN MIGUEL 94 – Wilkerson 40, Fajardo 23, Cabagnot 15, Ross 7, Lassiter 3, Santos 3, Tubid 3, Espinas 0, Lutz 0.
Quarters: 17-33, 40-50, 72-75, 98-94.
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