ANTIPOLO: Bereft of heroes in its first six games, Rain or Shine found one in the most unlikely character.
Donald Dulay, a 5-foot-7, second-string guard who didn’t see any action in their last three games, bailed the Elasto Painters out of trouble with 18 fourth quarter points Friday night that resulted in Rain or Shine’s first PBA Philippine Cup win and Alaska’s first loss.
Dulay finished with 20 markers for the night in an 86-81 victory as the Painters finally saw sunshine after six disappointing setbacks, fashioning out the win in front of a small gallery of Rain or Shine faithful at the Ynares Center here.
“Motivation? There’s no bigger motivation for us than being winless in our first six games,” Dulay said when asked what got him going. “Someone just needed to step up for us, and I am just glad that it was me.”
Ryan Arana paced the Painters with 21 points, but it was clearly Dulay’s fourth quarter rampage that pulled the game out of the fire for Rain or Shine.
The loss was the first for Alaska in seven games, but the Aces stayed on top of the standings just the same. Joe Devance tossed in 24 to lead all Alaska shooters.
Dulay also bottled up Alaska starting guard LA Tenorio silly in the second half, holding the Alaska quarterback scoreless after he had scored 13 points in the first two periods.
Rain or Shine got off to a rip-roaring start with Mike Hrabak hitting threes as the Painters raced to several double-digit leads only to sputter in the third period by scoring only nine points.
And that allowed Alaska , the runner-up here to Talk ‘N Text last season, to take momentum into the fourth quarter as the Aces looked like they were ready to nail down win No. 7 and bury the Painters deeper in the cellar.
Willie Miller was also held down to the minimum in the fourth quarter, with the former two-time MVP shooting only a bucket - a running jumper which tied the game for the last time at 75 with 2:23 to go.
Jay-R Reyes shoved the Painters in the lead to stay with a surprise triple from about 28 feet out before Dulay hit seven straight points that had Rain or Shine scampering to an 85-76 lead with only 94 seconds left on the clock.
Meanwhile, the Tropang Texters won a second straight game earlier after rallying from 15 points down in the fourth period against Barako Bull for a 93-90 victory in the first game.
It was also a tiny man in Jimmy Alapag who played the hero’s role for the defending champion Texters as he hit 10 of his 25 points in a crippling 20-0 run that had Talk ‘N Text rising to 4-2 overall.
“Jimmy told me in the third period that there was no way we were going to lose this game,” coach Chot Reyes quoted his point guard as saying even though the Texters lagged behind for most of the game.
“To tell you frankly, we’re simply playing terrible basketball right now,” Reyes added. “We are fortunate that it turned out well in the end.”
Alapag hit 5-of-10 three-point shots, the last two coming in succession to highlight that run as the Texters bounced back from a 67-82 deficit with 8:54 to go to still win in a convincing manner.
Talk ‘N Text played its third game in the last seven days and definitely looked winded as the Texters partly aided the Barako Bull breakaway with a maze of errors.
But the Energy Boosters were held without a score for 7:30 after Alex Crisano had given them tat 15-point lead with a triple from top of the key, and that was the only opening that Talk ‘N Text needed to put the game away.
The next Barako Bull basket came from Gilbert Lao with 2:28 to play, but Jared Dillinger hit three free throws in the next two Talk ‘N Text possessions for 91-86.
