RAIN OR SHINE SURVIVES KIA, NEARS TOP 4 ELIMS FINISH
FOR the third time in three months, Paul Lee got hit in his mouth. This time, he made the other team feel the pain.
Lee showed nerves of steel by going 8-for-8 from the stripe inside the last 2:04 of the game, enabling Rain or Shine to come up with a 94-90 victory over gritty Kia Wednesday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and formalize its place in the playoffs.
Memories of Lee getting hit in the mouth by Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson during their Commissioner’s Cup finals duel and by Kelly Wiliams also of the Tropang Texters in Bacolod City last June 6 resurfaced after the combo guard received a shot in the same area by a driving Virgil Buensuceso, with still 4:06 left to play.
Lee had to be taken out but returned about a minute later and promptly went 8-for-8 from the stripe in the stretch, each trip ensuring the Elasto Painters kept their heads above water over the Carnival in the closely-fought endgame.
Rain or Shine thus stretched its winning streak to five, improved to a 6-4 win-loss record and overtook former victim GlobalPort at fourth-running spot. Another win over Meralco on Sunday and head coach Yeng Guiao’s charges will have twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Guiao is just glad his team came out on top against a Kia team that refused to quit despite trailing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and kept to within 84-85 before Lee took over.
“We expected a hard game and that’s exactly how it was,” said Guiao. “We had problems with their big man changing our shots, blocking our shots. Otherwise, it’s really our experience that gave us an edge. We were able to better close out the game.”
Guiao also dismissed talks about his team’s streak, the second-best in the league after leader San Miguel Beer’s eight-game roll.
“We don’t want to be bothered thinking about it,” maintained Guiao. “Our focus for now is winning on Sunday and getting into the top four.”
Setting up Lee’s endgame heroics was Wendell McKines notching 24 points and 20 rebounds, while the former finished with 20 points in leading Rain or Shine’s bench outscoring its Kia counterpart 57-24.
6-10 3/4 Hamady N’Diaye indeed proved to be a big headache for Guiao as he finished with gamehighs of 31 points, 21 rebounds and eight blocked shots. The Senegalese scattered 13 of his points during the fourth quarter, including the Carnival’s last six points.
Kia, however, was relegated to a 4-5 slate, needing to win its last two games against Talk ‘N Text and Meralco just to insure inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the next round.
Karl Dehesa wound up with 19 points and N’Diaye got additional help from Virgil Buensuceso and Hyram Bagatsing in keeping Kia close, but Lee made Dehesa and Buensuceso pay for sending the former University of the East standout to the stripe in the stretch with their penalty fouls.
Guiao remained all praises for Kia’s gutsy stand that saw the Carnival get off to an 11-2 start and come charging back from a 46-59 deficit. They even refused to be daunted by buzzer-beating triples by Jericho Cruz and Gabe Norwood to end the half and third quarter, respectively, that kept the E-Painters ahead.
“They battled us possession per possession,” said Guiao. “They are really a team that’s improving.” (NC)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 94 – McKines 24, Lee 20, Uyloan 8, Cruz 8, Ibanes 7, Belga 7, Almazan 6, Quinahan 5, Norwood 3, Tiu 3, Cruz Jervy 2, Chan 1, Teng 0, Tang 0.
KIA 90 – N’Diaye 31, Dehesa 19, Buensuceso 7, Nuyles 6, Chang 6, Yee 6, Bagatsing 6, Revilla 4, Avenido 3, Alvarez 2, Webb 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 12-15, 43-40, 68-66, 94-90
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