Wayne Chism shot 30 points, had 15 rebounds and five blocks in a critical Rain or Shine win over Barangay Ginebra Sunday night, giving Yeng Guiao the last laugh on everyone who wanted to see him send his import home.

“(Only) the team and myself were the ones not giving up on him,” Guiao said after a 105-101 overtime thriller over the Gin Kings that gave the Elasto Painters the all-important fourth spot in the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“He showed us what he can do (offensively) in this game,” Guiao said after Chism sealed his spot in the squad that has gone 2-2 with him as a new import. “The locals then stepped up (after Chism improved on his offensive game).

“This is all we wanted – to get an even chance in the quarterfinals,” Guiao said. “This is what we worked for tonight.”

Paul Lee picked up from where Chism left off offensively in the fourth quarter and in extension, shooting 15 of his 25 points in that span to help the Elasto Painters close out their classification round assignment with a 5-4 record for No. 4 spot and a clash with No. 5 Meralco in a best-of-three series.

The loss gave the Gin Kings a 3-6 record for No. 8 and the unenviable task of needing to beat No. 1 Talk ‘N Text two straight times for a spot in the semifinals.

San Miguel Beer, which had a 7-2 elimination round record, was No. 2 and will clash with No. 7 Air21, also needing to win just once like the Tropang Texters to book a seat in the Final Four.

The other best-of-three pairing will have No. 3 Alaska battling No. 6 San Mig Coffee also starting Monday at the Big Dome in Cubao.

Alaska and San Mig actually clashed in the first game, but both teams didn’t really exert too much effort in an 85-66 win by the Aces as the Mixers played without import James Mays, former two-time MVP James Yap and Marc Pingris.

The two best-of-three affairs will start Monday.

Ginebra suited up a new reinforcement in former two-time Best Import awardee Gabe Freeman, and the Gin Kings started out hot by taking several 13-point leads in the second half thanks to a 23-point first half effort by Freeman.

But Freeman, who was even working the pro-Ginebra crowd on the way to shooting 17 first quarter points, tired himself out early. He was scoreless in the third period and finished with just six points the rest of the way.

“Gabe Freeman was really a match-up problem for us as I expected,” Guiao, whose six PBA championships have come on import-laden conferences, continued. “But as I also expected, Wayne showed what he can do on offense.”

Chism scored 19 points in the first half and was the main reason why the Painters were able to tug at the coattails of the Kings.

And when Chism went scoreless in the fourth, Lee took up the cudgels by shooting 12 of his tally, some of them coming off mind-boggling moves, including one short jumper over the outstretched arms of the 7-foot Greg Slaughter for 87-88.

Beau Belga forged the game’s last tie at 94 with two free throws off Jay-Jay Helterbrand’s fourth foul with 45.3 left.

Slaughter then had a chance to snap that tie by going to the free throw line with 8.3 left off a Belga foul, only for the No.1 Draft pick this season to muff both free throws.

Chism scored on a follow-up of a Belga miss and Lee had a layup at the 3:50 mark of the overtime as Rain or Shine scooted out front and held on grimly to the lead till the end, frustrating a huge pro-Ginebra crowd.


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