The Elasto Painters came back from a 28-point third quarter deficit to nip Air21, with Ryan Arana scoring the marginal putback at the buzzer for a 113-111 victory that kept Rain or Shine in the running for an outright quarterfinal spot in the PBA Fiesta Conference.
Arana followed a missed jumper by new import Rod Nealy just in the nick of time as the Painters overhauled a 60-88 third quarter deficit to improve to 8-9 and move within another victory of a playoff for the last automatic quarterfinal slot.
“We played a lazy first three quarters,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia. “It’s good that we picked up energy at just the right time.” Nealy, playing in his first game in the Philippines in nearly two years after last seeing action for crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra, scored 41 points and rallied the Painters from the deficit by shooting 19 of his total in the fourth period.
The left-handed Nealy hit four triples in the fourth and ignited the comeback, one very few from the small Araneta Coliseum crowd thought was still coming since the Painters played without fire in the first 34 minutes.
Air21 seemed to have a complete lock on the game after import Leroy Hickerson jumpstarted their offense by shooting 22 points in the first half.
It was the second time in two years that Air21 blew a game in that fashion. Last November, the Express had a 30-point lead against Talk ‘N Text in the second quarter before losing, 105-118.
The Express already had 61 points after the first two periods and had 80 after the halfway mark of the third before things started falling apart for them and everything worked for the Painters.
In losing for the 14th time in 18 games, the Express thus gave idle Barako Coffee the chance to forge a playoff for the last wildcard berth if the Coffee Masters score an upset over Derby Ace at the close of the elimination round tomorrow.
Ginebra was one interesting spectator of Friday night’s regular double-header.
After losing horribly to the Llamados last Wednesday, the Gin Kings closed out with a 9-9 card and could be caught at No. 5 by the Painters and Coca-Cola, which scored an impressive 87-76 decision of Sta. Lucia in the second game.
Both the Tigers and the Painters now tote 8-9 cards.
Coca-Cola and Rain or Shine will collide Sunday also at the Big Dome, with the winner advancing to face the Kings in a you-or-me match for the right to become the third quarterfinalist and avoid the one-miss-you-die wildcard phase.
The No. 2 spot, which comes with an outright entry into the Final Four, will be up for grabs for San Miguel when it clashes with Alaska in the tournament’s final out-of-town game scheduled in Dumaguete City Saturday.
A win by the Beermen would put them in the company of tournament topnotcher Talk ’N Text into the Final Four, while a loss coupled with a Derby Ace win over the Coffee Masters would necessitate a three-way tie for that spot.
In that case, Derby Ace will drop to the quarterfinals as the No. 4 team because of an inferior quotient, leaving the Beermen and the Aces to play another game for No. 2 spot with the loser to be the No. 3 ranked team.
Nealy, who replaced the burly Jai Lewis, also grabbed 16 rebounds with Sol Mercado adding 19 points and Gabriel Norwood finishing with15 points. The hero Arana wound up with 13 in a sterling off-the-bench stint.
Hickerson was held to just 12 points in the second half, with his first basket in the fourth quarter coming with just over a minute left as the flamboyant import seemed to take it easy after the Express had built that commanding lead.
