ROS not giving up

MANILA, Philippines — On its third try in Season 49, Rain or Shine stopped TNT from closing out their semifinal duel in a Game 5 while it kept its own bid alive.

Fighting for dear life and making an all-out effort to avoid the fate that befell them in the previous PBA Governors’ and Commissioner’s Cup, the Elasto Painters hammered a 113-97 romp to cut their deficit to 2-3 in the Philippine Cup race-to-four Final Four series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Elasto Painters detonated a crippling 37-12 salvo in the third quarter to storm ahead of a TNT side that couldn’t find an antidote while dealing with the absence of coach Chot Reyes, big man Kelly Williams and gunner RR Pogoy.

Reyes served his one-game suspension for accumulating five technical fouls in the conference, with his fifth T happening in their 108-92 Game 4 win, as Williams sat it out on ankle sprain, joining RR Pogoy (hamstring) on sick bay.

The charges of Yeng Guiao led by as many as 35 points and will now look to carry the momentum of this massive triumph over to Sunday’s sixth game, pass another do-or-die, and force the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G to a sudden death.

“We survived another day. This is the closest we’ve been to the Finals so we look at it as a really positive development. At last, naka-dalawang panalo kami sa semifinals,” said Guiao.

“But of course, coach Chot wasn’t coaching and he’ll be coaching the next game. And both teams were also able to preserve their players for Game 6,” he added.

Gian Mamuyac led ROS with 22, firing 16 in the first canto as he helped set the right tone for his embattled team.

Later, San Miguel Beer made it two in a row against Barangay Ginebra, 103-92, to get on the hill at 3-2.

Jericho Cruz provided the spark off the bench, dropping 27 to go with four steals to back up CJ Perez (31) and June Mar Fajardo (14-12-6) in the pivotal followup to their 107-82 Game 4 romp.

SMB surged ahead for the first time with a chance to finish it off Sunday with a third straight W.

Jhonard Clarito added 19-7-5 as Adrian Nocum, Andrei Caracut and Keith Datu chipped in 11 apiece.

The Elasto Painters seized control with a dominant third quarter, which saw them racking up 12 unanswered points to create a 73-56 separation and ending the period with a 15-0 barrage to widen the gap further.

“’Yung third quarter malaking bagay sa amin and it was really the defense,” said Guiao, whose crew held TNT to a lowly 4-of-9 field goal shooting (21.1 percent) and forced it to eight turnovers in the game-changing stanza.

Calvin Oftana finished with 23 for the Tropang 5G but was limited to only two in the second half.