Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen virtually came from the dead, overhauling a 20-point fourth quarter deficit to shock the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 109-105, at the start of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series Tuesday night.
The Beermen appeared headed for a blowout loss after trailing by as many as 22 points, 68-46, late in the first half, and 20 points at the start of the fourth quarter, 91-71.
But the defending champions suddenly caught fire in the final period, outscoring Rain or Shine 38-14 to rocket past the bewildered Painters. Back-to-back PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo was again the main difference as he came up with another monstrous performance of 36 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks.
Arwind Santos also had an explosive double-double 19 points and 17 boards while Ronald Tubid posted 15 points, 11 of them in the decisive fourth quarter including two booming three-pointers late in the game.
It was a shocking loss to the Painters who appeared invincible in the first half, churning out 68 huge points in the first two quarters alone.
Burly ROS frontliners Beau Belga and JR Quinahan already had 16 and 15 points, respectively, after the first two quarters, with the pair shooting an impressive 13-for-17 (76 percent) from the field and combining for four three-pointers.
The Painters erected a 22-point lead, 68-46, late in the first half after Belga finished on back-to-back baskets in transition.
The game got physical in the third quarter resulting in heated exchanges among opposing players that led to technical fouls on both sides.
The Beermen then went on an 11-4 run to close in to within 11 points, 76-65.
The Painters responded with a 10-0 blast to push the lead up to 20, 91-71 as the third quarter ended.
The Beermen finally found their groove in the fourth period, cutting ROS lead to 12 points, 95-83.
But Paul Lee, playing in his first game of the conference after suffering from an injury before the start of the season, drilled a three-pointer for his first points of the conference, as the Painters held on to a 15-point lead.
But the Beermen came storming back into game, unleashing a 27-9 run to start the fourth.
Santos nailed a three-pointer and Fajardo scored four straight points as SMB finally wrestled the lead for the first time, 105-103.
Lee knotted the count with a basket, but SMB’s Chris Ross fired another triple to make it 108-105 for the Beermen with 1:32 left.
The Painters failed to score the rest of the way as Santos put finishing touches on the SMB victory by splitting his free throws.
Game Wednesday: Alaska Aces vs. GlobalPort Batang Pier (Game 2 of best-of-7 semifinal series; GlobalPort up 1-0).
