GOVERNORS’ CUP REIGNING CHAMP RAIN OR SHINE OFF TO TRIUMPHANT START
Arizona Reid marked his return to the Rain or Shine fold with a curious triple-double game of 28 points and 20 rebounds against 10 turnovers, and the Elasto Painters started their PBA Governors Cup title defense with a 79-75 decision over the San Mig Coffee Mixers at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Wednesday night.
Beau Belga, Chris Tiu and Paul Lee hit clutch points as the E-Painters pounced on the Mixers’ faltering windup, pulling through even with Gilas Pilipinas mainstays Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood sitting out the game.
“I just held back from using Gabe and Jeff. I knew they wanted to play. They wanted to contribute. But we’re looking at the long term. I believe the rest would do good and they did step up,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“Noong third quarter nag-isip ako ‘gamitin ko ba?’ They caught up with us, then took the lead. We couldn’t make our outside shots, and Jeff could help us. We couldn’t defend Marqus Blakely, and Gabe could be a good match-up with him,” Guiao also said.
“Nag-alangan ako kung gagamitin ko ba. In the end, I took a gamble,” Guiao added.
Belga, a Gilas reserve, played 22 minutes and contributed to their cause with seven rebounds, five points and one steal against four turnovers.
“Tumaba sa Gilas,” said Guiao.
Belga helped provide toughness at the paint as the Elasto Painters beat out the Mixers in an early rematch of the title protagonists in this conference last season.
Blakely also came through a double-double with 26 points and 20 rebounds and could’ve been a much bigger help for his team if not for his woeful 6-of-19 free throws.
He had missed 10 charities before finally nailing one with 5:07 left in the third period.
Blakely, the same import that brought San Mig Coffee (then known as B-Meg) to the finals last year, spearheaded a key assault that had the Mixers racing ahead at 67-58 early in the fourth quarter.
The Elasto Painters, however, stayed tough under gnawing pressure, salvaging the game on a 10-4 closing run.
Rain or Shine pulled even at 75-all on a drive by Tiu off Mark Barroca and PJ Simon.
And three straight charities by Lee as against a missed three-pointer by James Yap and an error by Blakely had Rain or Shine spurting ahead to stay.
“We just stayed tough all the way to the end. We had scary moments, and it’s the desire of the boys to defend the title that we have that carried us through,” said Guiao. (SB)
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