Rain or Shine stays alive, trims lead, 3-2

MANILA, Philippines - Jeff Chan rose to the occasion and singlehandedly outgunned the opposition with  a 23-point explosion in the second half, and Rain or Shine outsteadied San Mig Coffee, 81-74, at the finish this time to reduce the Mixers’ lead to 3-2 in the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven finale at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Chan punctuated his sterling second-half show with a tough and crucial turnaround shot off PJ Simon as Rain or Shine took a 79-72 lead with 48.3 seconds left and subsequently lived to fight another game in this thrilling finale.

“Basta ayoko lang ibigay sa kanila ang series (I just didn’t want to give the series to them),” said Chan after coming through with his most explosive performance in the series despite a one-point first-half production.

He held his own in a fiery fourth-quarter shootout with San Mig Coffee top gun James Yap, leading all scorers with 24 markers with three triples, four twinners and seven charities.

Beau Belga, Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood also hit crucial shots in the homestretch to help the Elasto Painters keep their hopes alive for a crack at the coveted all-Filipino championship.

San Mig Coffee takes a second shot at closing out the series while Rain or Shine goes for the equalizer in Game Six also at the Big Dome Wednesday.

“We just grinded out a win and we’re still certainly behind in this series, but one thing we can promise the fans is we will fight it out to the end,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

“I told the boys we can’t lose that sense of destiny. Even if we’re behind, it’s not over. We have to believe in ourselves and stay positive. A win like this can turn around the complexion of the series,” Guiao also said.

“We could have won Game Three and Game Four. Di lang talaga magsabay pumutok si Jeff (Chan) and Paul (Lee),” Guiao rued.

This time, however, Chan and Lee did hit their strides.

San Mig Coffee threatened to within three, 69-72, after trailing by nine when Lee buried a tough gliding looper to stop the Mixers’ momentum.

Rain or Shine further eased down the pressure after a booming triple by Norwood and the jaw-dropping turnaround shot by Chan.

Earlier, the Elasto Painters gained a virtual and crucial three-point swing as rookie Ian Sangalang muffed an open pointblank shot then Belga knocked in a charity off a foul by Marc Pingris.

Pingris, who failed to finish Game Four due to a poked right eye, returned with a super energetic performance, delivering team-highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds.

He scored the game’s first four markers, starting off with a thunderous jam then grabbing an offensive rebound for a mighty putback.

Yap also tossed in 18 points while Alex Mallari and Mark Barroca chipped in 11 and 10, but the rest of the Mixers were effectively neutralized by the E-Painters.

Still, the Mixers set the pace throughout the first half, leading by 10 at 20-10.

But then Chan found his touch after the halftime huddle, firing away a 15-footer to tie the count at 44.

San Mig led for the last time at 53-50 before Rain or Shine stormed ahead, 59-54, on a 11-to-1 closing run in the third period.