MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine refused to give up, facing the overwhelming odds against Coca-Cola as it hacked out a come-from-behind 98-93 win to claim the last slot in the PBA Fiesta Conference quarterfinals at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
Sol Mercado, Gabe Norwood and Jervy Cruz carried the fight for the team with import Rod Nealy groping for form as the Elasto Painters beat the Tigers for the second time in 10 days to gain the right to play the B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados in the best-of-five quarterfinals.
The next round begins tomorrow also at the Big Dome with Alaska Milk and Barangay Ginebra pitted in the other quarters matchup.
“We just didn’t stop playing. We kept on fighting until we got big breaks at endgame, allowing us to steal the game,” said coach Caloy Garcia as his chargers beat the Tigers in the final knockout stage of the wildcards.
“I have to give credit to my locals most especially Sol (Mercado) and Jervy (Cruz). They rose to the occasion with our import not playing his usual game. We even thought of not using him anymore in the final half,” Garcia also said.
Mercado piled up 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds, Norwood got 17 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists while Cruz contributed 13 points and four rebounds in making up for Nealy’s poor showing.
Nealy, who averaged 25.8 points and 13.5 rebounds in his first four games with RoS, struggled for only 15 points and six rebounds in this critical ballgame.Worse, he fouled out with 2:30 left to play.
Mercado and Cruz waxed hottest in the payoff period, carrying RoS on their shoulders as the team erased a seven-point deficit, 66-73, in winning a second knockout game in four days.
The Tigers led by as many as 12 early on but sagged at crunch time, thus, hitting the end of the road in the season.
Coca-Cola, despite a massive buildup and two import changes, finished just seventh in the season-ending tourney, ahead only of Sta. Lucia Realty, Air21 and Barako Energy Coffee.
After a long, long chase, the Elasto Painters pulled ahead at 93-90 on a three-pointer by Mercado with 1:31 left to play.
After Gary David nailed a free throw on a technical foul incurred by Cruz, Mercado made another crucial basket on a left-handed layup off John Williamson as Rain or Shine took a 95-91 lead with time down to 29.5 seconds.
Still, the Tigers got a chance to send the game into overtime.
David and Williamson, who both poured in 29 points, missed a three-point attempt each in the dying seconds, though.
Thus, the Elasto Painters stayed alive, setting up an interesting quarters matchup with the Llamados.
“They have the height, the quickness and advantages in other departments. But it will be all about competing. We’ll be there to give them a good fight,” said Garcia.
“We like our chance against them,” Garcia added.