Larry Rodriguez of Rain or Shine secures the rebound off Mark Pingris of San Mig Coffee during Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals Series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (INQUIRER)
What once looked like an untouchable record has just been shattered.
American head coach Tim Cone made himself the winningest coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) last night after steering the San Mig Coffee Mixers to their second
straight title with a 93-87 win over the hard-fighting Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and bag the 39th PBA Philippine Cup title at the Araneta Coliseum.
San Mig won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, giving Cone his 16th crown to eclipse the 15 titles won by the legendary Baby Dalupan.
It was Cone’s third title with the Coffee Mixers after winning 13 with the Alaska Aces.
The Coffee Mixers had to go through the wringer in this one, a game that was marred by a Rain or Shine walkout.
Heavily protesting what he deemed bum calls, Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao urged his team to leave the court.
It was not the first time that Guiao instigated a walkout. The same incident happened in 2006 when Guiao and his Red Bull squad left the game but returned afterwards.
Guiao was slapped with a hefty P500,000 for the incident.
Tension gripped the venue when the Elasto Painters headed to their dugout in the 11:39 mark of the second quarter and the Coffee Mixers leading, 30-17.
Before the walkout, Guiao had been complaining of several fouls against his team. At the time, six fouls had been slapped against Rain or Shine and three for San Mig.
Rain or Shine returned to the court two minutes into the 15-minute grace period.
Under the PBA rules, a completed walkout would cost a team a P10 million fine.
Rain or Shine was given a warning for the walkout while Guiao was slapped with a technical fould for resent to a call.
The lull seemed to fire up the Elasto Painters as they staged a 7-3 run to move within 24-31.
San Mig restored a 40-24 lead but Rain or Shine ended the period with a searing rally and trimmed its deficit to just six, 43-49.
Looking to become the six out of 45 teams to force a Game 7 after being down 1-3, the Elasto Painters continued thier fightback in the third to zoom ahead, 67-66, with one quarter to play.
San Mig again answered with its own run and threatened to pull away, 79-70, with 6:59 left.
Rain or Shine refused to roll over and die with Paul Lee nailing eight straight points to carry his team within 78-81.
Playmaker Mark Barroca then took over for the Elasto Painters, completing a three-point play, hitting a trifecta and naling a layup as San Mig took an 89-83 lead with 1:32 left.
Beau Belga kept the window of opportunity open for Rain or Shine when he knocked down a triple, making it 86-89 with 1:19 to go.
Rain or Shine couldn’t come closer as Lee missed back-to-back three-point attempts and a crucial turnover with 37.5 ticks left.
Barroca, who finished with 24 points, went on to win the Finals MVP accolade.
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