SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine banked on the hot shooting of Jeff Chan in the fourth quarter and lives to fight another after a 81-74 victory over San Mig Coffee in Game 5 of the PBA PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup Finals at the Araneta Coliseum Sunday, February 23.
Struggling all series long and facing elimination, snipper Jeff Chan sizzled in the second half, firing all but one of his 24 points to salvage the Elasto Painters’ finals campaign.
The Gilas Pilipinas gunner finally delivered telling baskets, punishing the Mixers with big shot after big shot under the final minute in front of 20, 512 paying fans to complete a resounding comeback for the Elasto Painters.
Chan nailed all his three triples in the second half as Rain or Shine protected their lead down the stretch to stay alive and force a Game 6 on Wednesday, February 26.
“We just grinded out a win but we’re still behind in the series. One thing we can promise is we can fight to the end,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao after the momentum-shifting win.
“(I told my boys) you cannot lose that sense of destiny. Even if we’re behind, it’s not over.”
Guiao’s wards found themselves buried in a big hole early, with Joe Devance and James Yap shooting big baskets early on.
The Mixers zoomed to a 20-11 edge in the opening period; and with Mark Pingris terrorizing the paint with his every move, San Mig held forth until the end of the first 24 minutes for a 43-35 halftime lead.
Alex Mallari came off the bench to provide an additional spark with 8 points, all of which he scored in a crippling blitz in the second quarter.
At that point, the Elasto Painters were badly beaten in the rebounding department (18 to 26), and also yielded 10 turnover points and 8 second chance points to the Mixers.
ROS paints town red in second half
But the resilient Rain or Shine crew, who are in their first do-or-die game this season, did not allow their title bid to go down the drain.
Chan started working on his offensive exploits, while Beau Belga powered his way for baskets underneath the lane. Down by 8, the two starred in a 13-3 run that gave RoS their first lead of the night at 48-46.
Asked what was different in today’s game, the lefty shooter said, “Ayaw ko lang talaga matalo.” (I just didn’t wan’t to lose.)
The two teams traded bombs but the Painters emerged with the upper hand, 59-54.
Frenetic fourth quarter stretch
Guiao’s boys also held the lead entering the final canto of Game 4, but by the end were beginning to collapse.
Rain or Shine sat comfortably on a 69-60 bubble with Chan firing his second trey just under 7 minutes left in regulation.
But the Mixers – determined to close out the series – kept punching towards crunch time. Yap and Pingris connived for a crippling rally that saw the Painters’ big advantage disappear.
Yap drained two three-pointers while Pingris added a monster slam as the Mixers kept knocking, 72-74 approaching the final two minutes.
That proved to be the closest they could get as RoS hit the daggers afterwards.
Gabe Norwood sank a huge corner trey with just 1:12 remaining, followed a a difficult turnaround jumper from Chan with the shot clock winding down that made it 79-72, 48.3 ticks left.
Chan not alone
Rain or Shine also drew ample support from Beau Belga, who notched a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) Chris Tiu, who also struggled to buy a basket throughout the series but reached 9 points on Sunday.
JR Quinahan added 11 boards in the win too as Rain or Shine controlled the glass in the pivotal payoff period.
Sterling turnaround
In the end, the Painters upped their rebounding to just two short of San Mig (47-49), dished out more assists (18-12), blocks (8-3), fastbreak points (12-7), and turnover points (20-12).
They also spoiled Marc Pingris’ Herculian effort of 18 points and 15 rebounds, returning from an eye injury after getting hit inadvertently by Quinahan in Game 4.
Tim Cone also got 18 points from James Yap but they will need another 48 minutes – or more – to end the finals.
Game 6 is set on Wednesday, February 26 at Araneta Coliseum at 8 p.m.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine (81): Chan 27, Belga 10, Tiu 9, Lee 8, Norwood 7, Quinahan 6, Rodriguez 5, Arana 4, Almazan 4, Cruz 2, Ibanes 2
San Mig Super Coffee (74): Pingris 18, Yap 18, Mallari 11, Barroca 10, Devance 7, Simon 4, Sangalang 3, De Ocampo 2, Rafi 1, Melton 0
– Rappler.com
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