Cebuano June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer posts up against Rain or Shine import Pierre Henderson-Niles. (PBA IMAGES)
Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – Alaska vs Meralco
RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, had he been around last night, would have surely said that this latest caper would linger a long time in his memory.
The Elasto Painters almost blew a 12-point fourth quarter lead and needed to have Marcio Lassiter’s three-pointer at the buzzer reviewed before escaping with a 98-96 victory over San Miguel Beer for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rain or Shine used an 89-77 lead as buffer for the last five minutes and change to cushion a whirlwind finishing kick by the Beermen.
The Painters now have three chances of wrapping this series up and advancing to a first title series appearance this season.
“We’re lucky,” assistant coach Caloy Garcia, who called the shots for Guiao, told reporters, referring to that Lassiter triple that was ruled as not counted after a review of the game tape. “We played good today, but we need to play better (in Game 3) because we know San Miguel can come back.”
Guiao, a congressional candidate for the first district of Pampanga, had said that a come-from-behind 98-94 Game 1 victory would “linger in memory,” missed last night’s game to participate in a debate.
The Beermen are down to their final out, so to speak. But if there’s any team capable to turning this around, it is San Miguel.
Game 3 of this series is slated tomorrow at PhilSports Arena in Pasig and San Miguel – in order to keep its Grand Slam dream alive – would need to duplicate a similar feat it pulled out in the Philippine Cup Finals, where the Beermen won the last four games against Alaska in the best-of-seven series.
Four players tossed in twin digits for the Painters, with Jericho Cruz leading the way with 16 and import Pierre Henderson-Niles, accounting for 15, 16 rebounds, three assists and the muscle that again took June Mar Fajardo out of his sweet spot.
Tyler Wilkerson led the Beermen with 35, 18 boards and five assists.
Chris Ross added 15 points, Fajardo finished with 14 and Cabagnot wound up with 10.
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