MANILA: It’s now obvious that Rain or Shine won’t be satisfied with just making the semifinals for the first time.
Ranged against a formidable, popular foe and after losing one important man after the other, the Elasto Painters last night played with a lot of heart and pulled out a 101-95 decision of Barangay Ginebra for first blood in their Fiesta Cup semifinal series at the Araneta Coliseum.
Rob Wainwright hit 18 of his 20 points in the final two quarters, and Jai Lewis was steady despite being weakened by a long bout with the flu as the duo carried the Painters in the stretch which made Rain or Shine’s first semifinal stint all the more memorable.
Gabe Norwood also turned in his share, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to help the Painters offset injuries to Solomon Mercado and Ryan Arana, who had to leave the floor in the second quarter after fracturing his right wrist.
But more than the big shots, it was defense that spelled the difference for the Painters as they held the defending champion Gin Kings to just two points inside the final 5:08.
“Defense won us the game, especially in the second half,” coach Caloy Garcia told reporters during the customary winning coach’s interview.
“But we just won one game, and one game doesn’t make a series,” the young mentor added. “Maybe they’re (Kings) are just rusty. What we have to do (for the rest of the series) is to continue to rely on hard work and help out each other.”
It was a bitter loss for the Kings, who had opened up a 59-45 lead in the third period only to lose steam when it truly mattered, their guns suddenly going silent. Ginebra actually had a 93-85 lead with 5:08 to go after a Jay-Jay Helterbrand triple before the Kings’ offensive machine imploded.
From there, the best that the squad could do was hit two of four free throws, the last charity coming from Cyrus Baguio to cut a two-point lead which was made possible by that Waiwright triple from top of the key, 96-95, heading into the final 92 seconds.
Lewis, who finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds, knocked in a charity and then the Kings broke up a Ginebra play on the other end before watching Jireh Ibanez hit a lay-up for 99-95 with 34 seconds left.
Also taking a 1-0 lead in its separate best-of-seven series with Burger King was San Miguel, which played with such efficiency to rout the Whoppers, 102-85, in the first game.
Gabriel Freeman scored 22 points and had nine rebounds in his return to justifiably lead the Beermen to the ego-boosting win which coach Siot Tanquingcen later tried hard to downplay. “Knowing coach Yeng (Guiao of Burger King), with his experience, he’s going to get his team ready for the next game,” Tanquingcen explained. “I’m pretty sure that they will come up with something else for the second game and we better be ready.
“It’s just one game. You can win by a point or by a lot and it’s still one game,” he added. “We need four games to win the series.”
San Miguel turned a 29-33 second quarter deficit into a 45-37 bubble at the end of the half, and the Whoppers were never in the game after that, even trailing by as large as 22 early in the fourth after baskets from Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Ildefonso.
The best that Burger King could do was whittle a 61-83 deficit to 12 at the halfway point of the fourth period, but San Miguel answered right back with eight straight points capped by an Ildefonso dunk to put the game away, 95-75.
“It was hard to get a good rhythm at the start, but the players played through it,” Tanquingcen explained, when asked if he felt some rust in his players, who were coming off a three-week break after topping the elimination round.
Proving to be big disappointments for Burger King were National team swingman Arwind Santos and Gary David, who combined for just 15 points.
