RAIN OR SHINE PULLS EVEN
For coach Yeng Guiao, the bigger trouble in this particular day was stress from traffic than strain from a game.
Coming in late due to traffic gridlock, Guiao just stayed on the bench and let assistant coach Caloy Garcia and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters complete a good job in Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup Final Four faceoff with the Alaska Aces.
The Elasto Painters roared to a 19-point halftime lead and made sure there’s no endgame breakdown this time as they drubbed the Aces, 102-95, and forced a one-game-all deadlock in their best-of-seven showdown.
They break the tie at 7 p.m. Monday in the same Pasay City playing venue.
Guiao, crawling in traffic from C5 to SLEX, eventually got onto the bench with their team sitting on a 19-point cushion at the start of the final half.
“Sabi lang ni coach Yeng, ituloy namin, and we’re lucky to get the crucial win,” said Garcia.
“We put an effort from the beginning to secure the lead. We were erratic in the fourth quarter in the first game. There’s still a part of the fourth quarter this time that we were turning the ball over. But we held on to win,” Garcia also said.
Several RoS players stepped up but Paul Lee grabbed the spotlight at the finish with two booming three-pointers that cut short Alaska’s rally.
Jervy Cruz put up his best game in the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Jonathan Uyloan came through with a career best 18 markers.
Gabe Norwood, Raymond Almazan, JR Quinahan had their own shining moments as the E-Painters avenged their 80-87 loss on a faltering windup in Game One.
The E-Painters got off to a swashbuckling start and stormed to a 55-36 lead at the half.
As in Game One, the Aces waged a second-half fightback but were foiled in their bid this time.
The RoS starting unit of Uyloan, Norwood, Almazan, Jeff Chan and Beau Belga overwhelmed Alaska counterparts Cyrus Baguio, Jvee Casio, Tony dela Cruz, Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss, 34-10, in the first half.
And with Cruz, Lee, Quinahan, Ryan Arana and Jireh Ibanes providing sustaining power off the bench, the E-Painters built the 19-point lead at the turn.
It could’ve been worse for the Aces if Eric Menk didn’t come out firing.
The 40-year-old one-time league MVP scored 11 points on 5-of-7 field-goal clip and 3-of-3 charities in the first two quarters and finished with a team-high 18 markers. (SB)
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