Having been down for the first 18 minutes of the game, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters stormed back big and took Game One of their quarterfinals series against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 88-84, held at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Ginebra’s defense powered them to a sizzling start. They blanked the Painters for the first five minutes of the match, which dictated the control for the rest of the quarter. Despite struggling from the inside early on, Othyus Jeffers powered the team to a handful of offensive boards, while the locals took care of the scoring. After the first 12 minutes, the Gins owned the one-sided quarter, 27-12.
Rain or Shine committed a couple of turnovers in the first part of the next quarter that enabled Ginebra to maintain the comfortable lead. Fortunately for the Elasto Painters, they managed to erase the 19-point deficit as Chris Tiu and Jeff Chan ignited the perimeter buckets. RoS turned things around as their defense forced Ginebra into tougher shots during the period. Their run was fortified by a good 7/8 clip from the free throw line, which led to a 28-14 scoring in the quarter.
The teams combined for 59 points in the third quarter in a flurry of offensive exchanges. The quarter featured a tooth-and-nail grind, which yielded a five-point cushion as the largest lead by any team. Three paint baskets by RoS in the final minute helped them to close the quarter on a 6-2 spur,t and tie things up at 70 entering the last quarter.
Ginebra took the lead once again after an LA Tenorio triple in Ginebra’s opening possession of the fourth. Pierre Henderson responded for the Painters to regain the lead, while the squad’s defense maintained the hold of the minimal lead until the final buzzer.
In the last minute, things got heated after Coach Tim Cone was called for a technical foul after a disagreement on a call and refusal to return to the bench. After a technical free throw, Jeffers missed a potential game-tying pull up with 29 seconds remaining. Afterwards, Jeff Chan drained a pull up jumper to beat their shotclock and ice the game at 88-84.
Quinahan led the scorers for the Painters with 17 points, while Chan had 15. All Ginebra starters had double-figures in scoring, led by Tenorio’s 20 markers.
After the match, Coach Yeng Guiao gave a huge amount of credit to the team’s fightback starting in the second quarter. “We fell back by 19 points in the first half but we just kept our focus and played it possession by possession. Just hung in there,” the fiery mentor shared.
Moreover, the overall team effort en route to the win came from the team’s defense and play in transition. Guiao added, “We pushed the pace in the second half that’s where we played our game. It’s a team effort we’re not asking our import to produce the most for us.” he added. “He helped us defensively against Ginebra’s bigs which are the main problem when we face Ginebra.”
The Elasto Painters had more points off turnovers, 20-12, and made three more triples in the tight contest.
Rain or Shine look to close it out and advance to the best-of-five semifinal round on Tuesday, 4:15pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine (88) – Quinahan 17, Chan 15, Henderson-Niles 12, Ponferada 9, Cruz 8, Tiu 8, Norwood 6, Ahanmisi 6, Lee 3, Trollano 2, Almazan 2, Ibanez 0, Belga 0.
Ginebra (84) – Tenorio 20, Aguilar 13, Jeffers 12, Slaughter 10, Caguioa 10, Devance 7, Mercado 5, Ellis 4, Marcelo 3, Thompson 0
Quarterscores: 12-27, 40-41, 70-70, 88-84
