Chris Ross has career game as San Miguel Beermen down RoS

MANILA, Philippines – Marcio Lassiter was the first to hit a triple for the San Miguel Beermen early in the first. Then Chris Ross followed Lassiter’s lead with his own trey. Not long after Ronald Tubid and import Kevin Jones joined the three-point party. 

Over at the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters camp, import Alexander McLean opened the game with a trey. Beau Belga and Paul Lee would not allow themselves to get left behind as they nailed long range shots as well. 

That was the story of the game between Rain or Shine and San Miguel on Wednesday, March 19 in the PLDT myDSL Commissioner’s Cup. 

San Miguel won the shootout, however, 112-107, when the dust settled after 48 minutes of intense basketball. 

The Beermen shot the lights out at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, draining 6 triples in the second – to lead at the break 56-61 – and 5 treys in the third as well. Their hot shooting resulted in 15 long range bombs all game long.

But the biggest three of all came from 2013 PBA Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos (19 points) with 1:26 left in the game. It was a go-ahead trey, 105-104, that turned the tide in favor of the Beermen, who weathered Rain or Shine’s payoff period storm. 

Chris Ross then made good on his defense-offense tactic in the ensuing play, anticipating the Rain or Shine passing lane for the umpteenth time to complete a steal and the resulting breakaway layup for a slight cushion, 107-104, with 44.6 ticks left. 

The Painters had no antidote for Ross’ active hands and his career high 22 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals. 

“We expect effort from Chris Ross every time, he’s the captain of our team,” said active consultant Todd Purves. “It’s just more about consistent effort from him, that’s what I really appreciate from him from a defensive standpoint. So when he has a good shooting night, it’s just an icing on the cake.”

Rain or Shine came alive in the third with 31 points built by 5 triples. Belga shot 4 of 5 from rainbow country for his 12 points to try and help his team but with only 3 players scoring in double digits as opposed to the offensive explosion of the Beermen, their chances were all but gone.  

“They’re so resilient, they’re so well-coached and they’re so mentally tough that they would fight back every single time,” Purves commended coach Yeng Guiao’s troops. 

The Painters were down by as much as 16 at the 7:22 mark of the third before they slowly trimmed the deficit in the fourth as the Beermen seemingly cooled down somewhat. They eventually took the lead on a McLean triple, 101-98, with 4:13 to play. McLean finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds for the Painters. 

His counterpart Jones had nearly the same output with 33 markers and 15 boards.  

San Miguel’s Sol Mercado also did not play tonight due to a groin injury as the Beermen rose to 3-1 in the standings, while Rain or Shine slipped to 1-2. 

Scores:

San Miguel 112: Jones 33, Ross 22, Lassiter 19, Santos 19, Fajardo 11, Duncil 3 Tubid 3, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 0, Hubalde 0, Lutz 0. 

Rain or Shine 107: McLean 33, Lee 13, Belga 12, Chan 9, Arana 8, Almazan 8, Tiu 8, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 4, Uyloan 2, Teng 2, Cruz 0, Tang 0, Tang 0.

Quarterscores: 27-26, 56-51, 88-82, 112-107.  – Rappler.com