Lee hands ROS 2-0 lead over Alaska

Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Paul Lee reprised his Game 1 heroics with an even more memorable performance, nonchalantly sinking a fade-away jumper at the final buzzer to lift the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to a scintillating 105-103 victory over the Alaska Aces in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Sunday night. Lee shared scoring honors with Jeff Chan who both finished with a team-high 17 points. But it was Lee who made the biggest impact in the game as he scored 13 of his points total in the fourth quarter, including the game winner with less than a second left. The win gave ROS an imposing 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship with Game 3 set for Wednesday night. Alaska continued to be hampered by injuries to key players as center Eric Menk joined forward Vic Manuel and guard Jvee Casio on the sidelines. With the game tied at 103-all in the final possession, Lee grabbed a crucial offensive rebound and fired from the midrange with the ball swishing through the net just as the clock expired. Three other Painters—Jericho Cruz, Beau Belga and Jewel Ponferada—posted 14 points apiece. It was a closely fought game all the way with several lead changes. In the third quarter, Alaska’s RJ Jazul and Cyrus Baguio started hitting three-pointers to give the Aces their biggest lead at 59-51. But the lead evaporated almost in an instant as the Painters answered with a 10-0 blast, eight coming from Beau Belga who drilled back-to-back treys, giving ROS a 72-68 lead. Still, Alaska took a 79-76 lead at the end of the third quarter. But once again, ROS came storming back in the final period, erecting a nine-point lead, 100-91, with 3:28 remaining. The Aces fought back with Jazul draining back-to-back triples to cut the ROS lead to a whisker, 100-99. Lee then completed a three-point play to give the lead back to ROS, 103-101. But Calvin Abueva sank two free throws and import Rob Dozier knotted the count with a highlight-reel hook shot in the paint with 27.3 seconds remaining. But ROS had one more possession and Lee recovered the ball after a Belga miss for the game-winner. Jazul paced the Aces with 24 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from three-point range. Dozier posted 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Game Wednesday: Rain or Shine Elasto Painters vs. Alaska Aces (Game 3 of best-of-7 Finals; ROS leads 2-0).