PETRON BLAZE FINALLY WINS ONE
Petron Blaze kept its Finals hopes alive with a 33-point beating of Rain or Shine, 106-73, in Game 3 of their best-of-seven semifinal series in the 2014 PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The win enabled the Boosters to cut Rain or Shine’s lead in the series, two games to one.
Game 4 is slated 8 p.m. Monday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
It was a blazing start for Petron as they raced to a 30-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Boosters shot 8-of-14 from the three-point arc in the first half, widening their lead to as big as 29, 55-26, with 3:12 in the second quarter.
Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot, and Marcio Lassiter started the fight for Petron Blaze, scoring 39 of Petron’s 59 first half points for a 59-36 edge at the turn.
The reigning MVP finished with a big double-double of 22 points and 18 rebounds, while Cabagnot had 15 markers.
June Mar Fajardo also had a double-double with his 14 points and 12 boards, while former Gilas mainstays Lassiter and Chris Lutz combined for 24.
“It really feels good to finally get our first win in the series,” said Petron Blaze coach Gee Abanilla. “I thought that we played well in Game 2, but unfortunately, we didn’t finish it off for the entire 48 minutes. We made some adjustments and today, I’m just happy that the guys responded.”
After Petron Blaze started off hot and had a 23-point lead at the halftime break, the Elasto Painters tried to rally back to the game courtesy of a 12-0 run at the start of the third and even nipped the lead to just 13, 61-48, with 6:05 remaining in the quarter.
But Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao was ejected in the 1:36 mark of the third quarter after incurring his second technical for the game, which eventually spelled the doom for the E-Painters.
Ryan Arana once again cut the lead to 13 for Rain or Shine to start the fourth, 77-64, but that was the final hurrah for them in the game, as the Boosters once again ran away with a 13-2 blast courtesy of a number of post moves from Fajardo who extended his conference-leading number of double-doubles to 14.
Beau Belga paced the E-Painters with 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while JR Quinahan and Raymond Almazan finished with 10 points apiece.
“We knew what to do in this game all throughout,” Abanilla said. “It’s really tough. We really have to be mentally and physically prepared against this team, and at the same time, we’ve got to be mentally and physically tough also. I’m just happy for this win.” (RL)
The scores:
PETRON BLAZE 106 – Santos 22, Cabagnot 15, Fajardo 14, Lassiter 13, Lutz 11, Kramer 8, Ross 8, Duncil 4, Tubid 3, Taha 3, Deutchman 3, Hubalde 2, Lanete 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 73 – Belga 14, Quinahan 10, Almazan 10, Arana 8, Norwood 8, Tiu 7, Tang 4, Ibanes 4, Lee 4, Rodriguez 2, Cruz 1, Chan 1, Nuyles 0, Teng 0.
Quarterscores: 30-12, 59-36, 77-62, 106-73.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
