PBA: Rain or Shine stays alive, slays San Mig Coffee in game five

(Updated 7:18pm) The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters kept their championship hopes alive, gutting out an 81-74 win over the San Mig Coffee Mixers in game five of the PLDT MyDSL 2014 PBA Philippine Cup finals, Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Big plays late by the Elasto Painters bucked a fourth-quarter explosion by James Yap, making it 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, still in favor of the Mixers though.

Jeff Chan notched 24 points, exploding for 23 in the second half, to go with four assists. Beau Belga added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while three other Elasto Painters scored at least seven points.

Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao credited his players for grinding out a win, and promised that his team will keep fighting in the series.

"Wag na wag silang magpapakita na hindi sila lalaban o gi-give up sila in their body language and the way they carry themselves. Never show me that you're going to give up anything in this series," said coach Yeng Guiao. "Pag nagpakita sila ng ganoon sa akin, sabi ko, tatapusin ko ang career nila dito.

"Kahit discouraged sila, they need to keep that to themselves. They cannot show that to the rest of the team," he said.

"One thing I told the boys before the game is that we cannot lose our sense of destiny even if we're behind," he said. "We have to believe in ourselves and stay positive."

The game started with Joe Devance scoring seven during a 16-1 run for San Mig Coffee, who feasted on turnovers to put up a 20-10 lead. Rain or Shine couldn't shake off the Mixers' defense. They went 4-of-8 from the line and were held to just one basket in the last 9:04. San Mig Coffee led after the first quarter, 20-13.

Chris Tiu held the reins as Rain or Shine busted out their transition game to start the second quarter. Alex Mallari prevented things from getting out of hand for the Mixers and scored their first eight points. However, he also allowed Tiu to drain a triple that cut the lead to one, 28-27.

Mark Barroca fished a foul and made two charities to stop the run halfway through the quarter, followed by a Marc Pingris and-one. While Ryan Arana and Paul Lee took turns slashing to the basket, Barroca tallied six points during a 15-8 run to close the first half, 43-35.

San Mig Coffee led 8-0 in second-chance points at halftime, and went 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) from the free throw line. Rain or Shine was just 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from the charity stripe.

Devance, Reavis and Sangalang each had three fouls, while four Elasto Painters had two fouls each.


While the Mixers' offense struggled in the third, Jeff Chan and Beau Belga did damage inside to seize a 48-46 lead. San Mig Coffee's first basket came at the 4:27 mark, on a Pingris post move to knot the game. The bucket ignited a brief 7-2 Mixers rally, capped by a one-handed dunk from Pingris in traffic, 53-50.

San Mig Coffee though would not score from the field in the last 2:53. Instead, Tiu led a 9-1 burst to finish the quarter, putting Rain or Shine ahead 59-54.

Chan went firing on all cylinders to start the fourth, capping 10 straight points with contested triples to pad the lead, 69-60, barely five minutes into the frame. But the Mixers clawed their way back, as another Pingris slam and two huge buckets from James Yap made it a one-possession game, 74-72 with 2:34 to play.

Rain or Shine made their stops, then got a triple from Gabe Norwood with a minute and change left. Chan then nailed a turnaround jumper from the left corner, 79-72, seemingly the dagger of the game. The Mixers responded by calling a timeout and promptly found a cutting Pingris, then forced a shot clock violation with 21.9 ticks left, 79-74.

The Mixers called another timeout and set up Yap for a triple, but his shot went long. The Elasto Painters secured the rebound and called timeout with 13.6 second remaining. San Mig Coffee was forced to foul Chan, who polished off the game with another two points at the line.

"We gave it a valiant effort but trying to beat this team four games in a row is really a tough mountain to climb. We just weren't good enough tonight," said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. "We've been going at it for the past two conferences. To say we're not tired would not be fair. But we've still got something left in the tank."

It was a sub-par shooting night for both teams as Rain or Shine finished 28-of-74 (37.8 percent) from the field and 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) from the line. In comparison, San Mig Coffee ended up hitting 26-of-68 (38.2 percent) and 18-of-24 (75 percent), respectively.

Rain or Shine led 20-12 in turnover points, forcing the Mixers into 19 turnovers while committing only 11.

Marc Pingris and James Yap each scored 18 points, with Pingris adding a game-high 15 rebounds. Alex Mallari notched 11 points off the bench while Mark Barroca had 10 points and three steals.

A short ceremony was held prior to the game to commemorate Petron governor and incoming PBA chairman Ely Capacio, who passed away this morning.  - RAF/AMD, GMA News



The scores:

Rain or Shine 81 - Chan 24, Belga 10, Tiu 9, Lee 8, Norwood 7, Quinahan 6, Rodriguez 5, Arana 4, Almazan 4, Cruz 2, Ibanes 2

San Mig Coffee 74 - Pingris 18, Yap 18, Mallari 11, Barroca 10, Devance 7, Simon 4, Sangalang 3, De Ocampo 2, Reavis 1, Melton 0

Quarter scoring: 14-20, 35-43, 59-54, 81-74