The ROS Elasto Painters
survived to fight another day (today) while the SMC Mixers booked a Finals
ticket in the 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
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| Marc Pingris celebrates as the Mixers return to the Governors' Cup Finals. |
Two nights ago, Rain or
Shine beat Petron Blaze, 92-87, and stayed alive in their semifinal series. The
Painters used a big 13-0 fourth quarter run that erased a 9-point deficit and
swung the momentum permanently in the Painters' favor? TY Tang, Arizona Reid,
JR Quinahan, and Jeff Chan all connected from beyond the arc in that span to
effectively help their team beat the Boosters and extend the series to a fourth
game.
From being beastly in Game
Two to being ordinary in Game Three. That's exactly what happened to the Petron
frontline of June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos. Fajardo and Santos shot just
8/19 from the field here to finish with a combined 18 points. For Petron to
decisively sink Rain or Shine in Game Four, both bigs need to produce optimum
results.
Four triples? 18 points? 7
rebounds? Yep, it's the real Jeff Chan who showed up in today's game, helping
ROS live for at least one more game. Though the Painters, as a team, didn't
shoot really well from long range, Chan was able to hit some crucial ones. If
coach Yeng Guiao is hoping for another rousing win, then he will need the Gilas
sniper to be on-target once more.
As for last night’s
encounter, San Mig Coffee eliminated Meralco, 79-73. Veterans James Yap and
Marc Pingris came up big in last night's game, unloading a combined 35 points
to help lead San Mig Coffee past the pesky Meralco squad and back into the
Govs' Cup Finals. "Big Game" James hit two triples in the game and
was 8/14 overall from the floor, while Ping registered 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4
assists, and 1 block in an impressive all-around effort.
Last year, the B-Meg
Llamados lost to the Rain or Shine Elasto-Painters in Game 7 of the Govs' Cup
Finals. Marqus Blakely was part of that meltdown, and he's back, hoping to
redeem himself and finally cop a PBA crown. He definitely played like a
man-on-a-mission in this game, dropping 23 points, 19 rebounds, 5 steals, 2
assists, and 1 block.
Mike Cortez, Cliff Hodge,
and John Wilson all started in this one, and all three combined for a grand
total of 4 points on 1/10 FG shooting. Shaking your head? Yeah, me too.
Game Recaps:
RAIN OR SHINE over PETRON BLAZE, 92-87
The Rain or Shine Elasto
Painters weren’t about ready to give up their Governors’ Cup crown just yet.
The defending champions
rallied back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit for a 92-87 victory over
the Petron Blaze Boosters in Game Three of their best-of-five semifinals series
on Saturday at Cuneta Astrodome.
“We just avoided the
embarrassment of being swept,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who didn’t
arrive at the game until the second quarter after being stuck in traffic on the
way to the venue.
That hardly mattered early
on, as Rain or Shine was in control for most of the match until Petron came
alive in the final period. The Boosters started the fourth quarter on a 15-4
run to open up an 85-76 spread.
But TY Tang, Arizona Reid,
JR Quinahan, and Jeff Chan each hit a three-pointer to spark a 13-0 run to take
back the lead. The Elasto Painters allowed just two points for Petron the rest
of the way, to cut its series deficit against the Boosters to 2-1.
Game Four is set on Monday
at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“If we can win on Monday
that will give us a serious shot at going to the finals,” said Guiao.
“We’re trying to use this
as capital to encourage ourselves.”
The Elasto Painters
performed better from the three-point line, making 9-of-28 shots from beyond
the arc after missing all 18 of their three-point shots in Game Two.
Rain or Shine also did a
better job controlling Petron big man June Mar Fajardo, who finished with nine
points and in rebounds after netting 24 and 14 last game.
“We’re getting to know
better how to play him,” said Guiao, who praised Quinahan for helping defend
Fajardo. The burly center missed the last game because of Achilles tendinitis,
which he had to play through in the Game Four win.
Reid led Rain or Shine
with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists, while Chan added 18 points and
seven rebounds.
Alex Cabagnot top-scored
for Petron with 18 points, but import Elijah Millsap struggled anew from the
field, finishing with just 17 points on 4-of-21 shooting (19 percent). The loss
snapped Petron’s franchise-record 11-game winning streak.
ROS 92 - Reid 25, Chan 18, Tiu 9, Belga 7, Quinahan 7, Cruz 6 Ibanaez 6,
Matias 4, Norwood 4, Tang 3, Rodriguez 3
PET 87 - Cabangnot 18, Millsap 17, Lutz 15, Lassiter 11, Fajardo 9, Santos 9,
Lanete 5, Tubid 3, Kramer 0
QS: 23-19; 48-44; 72-70; 92-87
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| Jeff Chan sank 4 triples in Game Three. |
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| Alex Cabagnot tried to lead the Boosters in vain. |
SAN MIG COFFEE over MERALCO, 79-73
The San Mig Coffee Mixers
are back in the finals of the Governors’ Cup, and they relied on their biggest
stars to get there.
Marqus Blakely had 23
points, James Yap finished with 19, while Marc Pingris added 16 to lead the
Mixers to a 79-73 victory at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
The prolific San Mig
Coffee import added 19 rebounds and five steals in the victory, which gave the
Mixers a 3-1 win in their semifinal series.
But they had to turn back
a gritty Meralco squad that didn’t want to quit.
San Mig Coffee started
strong, beginning the game with a 13-1 advantage behind nine points from
Blakely before taking a 27-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But Meralco kept within
striking distance, cutting the deficit to 22-18 at halftime.
Yap and Pingris exploded
in the third quarter, scoring nine points apiece as the Mixers opened up
another double digit lead.
San Mig Coffee was still
up, 66-56, to begin the final period before Meralco came charging back behind
Mario West. The Bolts import, playing despite an injured right shoulder, had
his best game of the series with 22 points and 17 rebounds the help his team
get back.
Meralco came all the way
to within a basket, 75-73, on a Reynel Hugnatan putback with less than a minute
left. But the Bolts suffered a defensive breakdown, giving Mark Barroca an open
undergoal layup to push the Mixers lead back to four points.
The Bolts failed to
convert in the next play, dooming their chances as Blakely made two free throws
to ice the game.
San Mig Coffee returns to
the finals of the same tournament where it lost the title in seven games last
year to the Rain or Shine, when the team was still known as the B-MEG Llamados.
Mixers coach Tim Cone said
he didn’t have any preference when it comes to a finals opponent, with the
Elasto Painters still battling it out with the Petron Blaze Boosters for the
other spot in the championship round.
The Boosters lead the
series, 2-1.
“We’re just real thankful
we’ve got a couple of days to rest up and get focused,” said San Mig Coffee
coach Tim Cone. “Either opponent is gonna be tough for us.”
SMC 79 - Blakely 23, Yap 19, Pingris 16, Barroca 7, Mallari 4, Devance 4,
Acuna 3, Simon 3, Reavis 0
MER 73 - West 22, Cardona 13, Hugnatan 13, Ross 9, Dillinger 6, Salvacion 6,
Cortez 4, Hodge 0, Wilson 0
QS: 27-16, 45-38, 66-56, 79-73
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| James Yap hoists a floater from the corner. |
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| Mario West bids adieu after Meralco got the boot in Game Four. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and
compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey Joble)
Images: Images are from InterAKTV. (Photo credit to Paolo Papa)
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