Welcoat whitewashes Dazz anew

LIPA CITY, Batangas – After scaling a mountain, climbing a hill sure was a piece of cake.

Two days after rallying from 18 points down and winning, Welcoat Paints pulled off another trick yesterday as it came back from an 11-point deficit to turn back Dazz Dishwashing Liquid, 65-63, and move within a win of sweeping the PBL Challenge Cup finals.

Playing before a decent weekend crowd at the De La Salle-Lipa Gym here, the Paint Masters nibbled at an 11-point second quarter deficit with a slow but effective run, unleashed a mighty fourth-quarter offensive and survived a late surge by the Grease Busters to hang on to the win.

With a comfortable 2-0 lead in their best-of-five title showdown, Welcoat, which erased an 18-point lead in Game 1 to trounce Dazz, 77-68, in overtime in Lucena City, Quezon, goes for the sweep tomorrow at the Pasig Sports Center for its fifth title overall.

"Dahil nga sa galing kami sa panalo, feeling ng players ko champion na kami kaya nag-relax sa simula," said Welcoat coach Leo Austria. "Buti na lang nag-respond ang mga beterano ko sa endgame."

Last time, it was the energetic Ronald Tubid but this time it’s tenacious Eddie Laure’s turn to shine.

The southpaw forward out of Adamson University, who got the richest deal of P11.7 million in three years from Shell out of the present rookie crop in the PBA, delivered the killing blows on both ends of the court to break the backs of the rough-playing Grease Busters.

Earlier, Blu All Purpose smashed LBC Batangas, 76-62, to force a sudden death in their best-of-three series for third place.

Laure, who will join Tubid in Shell’s All Filipino campaign starting next month, caught fire in the fourth quarter, erupting for 11 of his 15 points which included three triples in a pivotal fourth quarter blast as Welcoat seized control, 59-48.

But Salangsang struck back, draining three three-pointers of his own that put the Grease Busters in a position to either force overtime or steal the game.

Jun Peter Simon muffed the last of three free throws given him but John Ferriols, who is also PBA-bound after getting signed up by Fedex, bothered Paul Artadi in a rebound scuffle with 6.9 seconds to go for a last crack at levelling the series at one game apiece.

Salangsang, who was five-of-eight from the three-point area before the last possession, went for broke, launching a trey that swatted away by Laure that sent his teammates straight at centercourt for a victory celebration.

"I also must make mention of Eddie (Laure) because if not for his fourth quarter explosion and his crucial block in the dying seconds, we could have lost this one," said Austria.

Like in the opener, Dazz was all bulk, muscle and power as it punished Welcoat in every possession in a highly-physical game that drew five warnings – Welcoat’s Artadi and Dazz’ Eugene Tan, Cyrus Baguio and assistant coach Caloy Garcia – and two flagrant fouls – Welcoat’s Marc Pingris and Dazz’ Joel Dualan.

Eugene Tan, spared off a one-game suspension but was fined P10,000 for a flagrant foul on Pingris in Game 1 that led to his disqualification, led an effective defensive stance but Dazz failed to sustain the effort, leading to another heartbreaking loss.