PBA: Dawson drops 50 as Bolts beat Elasto Painters in OT

(Updated 8:10pm) The Meralco Bolts survived a scare in the last two minutes of regulation and in overtime, as they defeated the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 118-116, on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Eric Dawson scored 50 points for Meralco, while delivering 14 rebounds, four assists, and five steals. He converted 20 of his 41 shot attempts, none more important than the two point he scored in the overtime period after he injured his knee. "It was Eric Dawson who towed us to victory," said Meralco head coach Ryan Gregorio. "He was playing on one leg but he still managed to score crucial baskets." The Bolts needed a win to give themselves a chance to enter the quarterfinals with a level playing field, in other words, avoiding a situation where they would get the seventh seed and the twice-to-beat disadvantage. They pounced on a flat Rain or Shine team from the first quarter, but they eventually had to overcome furious rallies from the Elasto Painters to get the win. "It's a great character win for us," Gregorio added. "It's an inspiration to have a player like Eric Dawson." A Bruno Sundov dish to Jervy Cruz with 89 seconds remaining gave Rain or Shine their first taste of the lead at 107-106. Eric Dawson trooped to the line with 1:24 remaining, where the import hit two free throws for a one-point advantage. On the next play, the Elasto Painters went to Gabe Norwood with the shot clock winding down, where the 2008 number one pick hit a three, 110-108. Dawson only took two seconds to equalize at the other end, before the Meralco import stole the ball from his counterpart. Dawson missed his hook shot and Sundov got the defensive rebound, prompting Rain or Shine to call a timeout with 30.5 seconds remaining. Paul Lee decided to go for a floater, but his shot was too strong, giving Meralco 13.6 seconds to win the game. Unfortunately for them, Jeff Chan got tangled up with Dawson, sending the game into overtime. Back-to-back hits by Mark Cardona opened up the extra period to give Meralco a four-point lead, but Lee countered with a trey at the other end. Two free throws from Norwood gave ROS the lead anew, but a couple of misses from Reynel Hugnatan kept the Elasto Painters ahead. A Dawson lay-up at the 1:35 mark made it 116-115 for the Bolts, but Norwood sank a free throw at the other end to tie the game. Meralco went to Cardona again, and the former DLSU Green Archer sank a teardrop in the lane, 118-116. Norwood missed a three on the next possession, but Meralco was whistled for a 24-second shot clock violation in the final 30 seconds. ROS was given 7.2 seconds to tie or win the game, and they went to Beau Belga, but his shot was too short. After the game, Cardona hugged Belga, but the latter forcefully broke out and almost started a scuffle. The Elasto Painters also complained as they thought Cardona had fouled Belga in the game's final play. The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters headed into their final assignment of the Commissioner’s Cup with little pressure. Whatever the outcome was, they were assured of their slot in the quarterfinals along with a twice-to-beat advantage. A win over the Meralco Bolts would mean the two teams would lock horns in the next stage of the tournament. A loss would mean the Elasto Painters would face Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. The Elasto Painters were a little too relaxed to start the ball game. They allowed the Bolts to build an early lead, however, a triple from Jeff Chan sliced the deficit down to three at 24-21. Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao was then called for a technical foul at the 2:54 mark for flagrant misconduct and was subsequently thrown out of the ball game. The Bolts used this to turn the tide to their favor. Dawson scored six straight points to build a 32-21 lead, but Bruno Sundov countered with a put-back to cut the lead down to eight at 34-26 to end the first quarter. Meralco continued their run in the second quarter, a three-point shot by Ronjay Buenafe giving them a 52-33 lead. However, the Elasto Painters countered with an 11-0 run, a basket by Sundov off a Paul Lee pass at the 4:10 mark sliced what was a 19-point lead down to eight. The Bolts recovered though from the scorching ROS blast as they held a 62-48 advantage at the half. Paul Lee connected with a long three-point shot at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter to cut the Meralco lead down to four at 72-68, but Mac Cardona replied with a teardrop to raise their lead back to six. A follow-up slam by Dawson and a sneaky lay-in by Paul Artadi at the 2:41 mark brought Meralco's lead back to double-digits at 84-74. Baskets from Jireh Ibañes kept the Elasto Painters in the game though, as the third quarter ended with Meralco holding an 86-80 lead. Sundov started to flex his muscles in the fourth quarter. A lay-up from the ROS import cut the lead down to five. A three-point play further trimmed the lead to two. After completing a stop, the Elasto Painters went to Jeff Chan, who knotted the game at 91 with 8:21 left in the game. It took Meralco a little less than two minutes to re-establish a seven-point lead. Four straight points from Dawson were followed by an and-one play from Reynel Hugnatan, for a 98-91 count in their favor, but the Elasto Painters again went to Sundov who converted with his own and-one play. Hugnatan made it two straight and-one plays at the 5:55 mark to give the Bolts a 101-94 lead. After a non-call on a Paul Lee drive, ROS assistant coach Caloy Garcia was called for a technical foul. Cardona missed the free throw, but Dawson was fouled and converted his free throws for a 105-96 advantage with four minutes remaining in the regulation. Sundov then scored four straight points with Gabe Norwood adding a fast break lay-up to cut the Meralco lead down to just 3 points at 105-102 with only 2:48 left in the game. Sundov and Chan conspired to strip Dawson of the ball. The frustrated Meralco import then fouled Lee, who only converted one of his free throws for a 106-105 count still in favor of Meralco. "Hats off to Rain or Shine," Gregorio said. "Even if there's really nothing at stake for them, they battled until the end and gave us a hard time." Sundov led the scoring for the Elasto Painters with 31 points on 73.3 percent shooting from the field. He added 19 rebounds but turned the ball over seven times. Jeff Chan chimed in with 18 points, while Lee and Norwood dropped 16 apiece. With Meralco’s victory, they avoided facing the Elasto Painters again in the quarterfinals with a twice-to-win disadvantage. The Bolts’ big win also dealt the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings the unenviable task of facing ROS. The Barangay will need to win on on Saturday to force a do-or-die game on Monday. "We've been here before. The challenge is how to get over the hump," Gregorio said. "We really did not want to be in that number seven slot. That's why we really battled until the end."  - RAF, GMA News