Lassiter, David shine as Powerade ties semis series against RoS

Powerade's Marcio Lassiter was a non-factor in their opener against Rain or Shine in PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series. On Friday night, the heralded Filipino-American rookie made his presence felt big-time as he teamed up with Gary David in torching the Elasto Painters from outside in the Tigers' 121-113 win at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Lassiter, who was held to two points in Powerade's 114-97 Game One loss two days ago, exploded for a career-best 30 markers to help the Tigers tie the best-of-seven semifinals series at one-game apiece. He scored 15 in the third period where the Tigers ripped the game apart by outscoring the Elasto Painters, 34-21. David made 13 in that scoring stretch to finish with his fourth straight 30-point game with 32. Rain or Shine controlled the tempo in the first half and even enjoyed a slim 58-57 lead at the turn. But Powerade came alive with that huge third-quarter scoring burst. "I think the key in winning the game was Marcio's contribution," said Powerade coach Bo Perasol in the post-game interview. "I challenged him to answer questions by media why he has been missing when it comes to critical games. And that's how he answered—with a resounding offensive game." The two teams, not expected to tangle in the semis for a berth in the best-of-seven Finals, try to break the tie on Sunday (Game Three) also at the Big Dome. Powerade, though was not all about Lassiter and David as Sean Anthony submitted a double-double of 11 points and 15 rebounds plus six assists, while Doug and Kramer and JV Casio scored 11 and 10 each. Ronjay Buenafe paced Rain or Shine with 25 points while rookie Paul Lee had 23 and Larry Rodriguez tallied 20. The Painters missed Jeff Chan's offensive gun as the RoS guard fired blanks the entire game after scoring a team-leading 27 points in the Painters' Game One win. — JVP, GMA News Scores: Powerade 121—David 32, Lassiter 30, Anthony 11, Kramer 11, Casio 10, Cruz 9, Adducul 7, Lingganay 3, Vanlandingham 3, Antonio 3, Crisano 2.