The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters absorbed Chris McCullough's 51-point outburst to top the San Miguel Beermen 112-104 in Game 3 and avoid a sweep in the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals
The Beermen lead the best-of-five series 2-1. Game 5 is on Friday, August 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Carl Montgomery led the Elasto Painters with 25 points and 15 rebounds, but it was Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga who came up with the timely points Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A corner 3-pointer by Norwood gave Rain or Shine a 105-104 lead with 1:14 remaining and his crucial block of a McCullough shot with 30 seconds left led to a big 3-pointer by Beau Belga for a 110-104 lead, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Belga finished with 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting from downtown to go with seven rebounds and six assists, while Norwood added 11 points, five boards and four dimes. Rey Nambatac was also pivotal and scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half.
Belga had extra motivation to fire shots from behind the arc thanks to Gilas Pilipinas center Andray Blatche.
Blatche, who was sitting courtside on Wednesday, dared Belga to shoot more 3-pointers after Belga jokingly pointed at him after hitting a trey with 3:45 to go in the fourth quarter.
Belga later hit the clutch 3-pointer by dusting off June Mar Fajardo with a quick hesitation move before pulling up for that booming bucket with 11 seconds to go. The bucket extended the lead to 110-104 and sealed the game for Rain or Shine.
"He was joking with me and told me to shoot one more. I told him I'll do it later. Incidentally, I made that crucial one," Belga said in Filipino. "I just told myself I'll shoot this and think about what happens later. I didn't have to think about a lot because we were up by three points and time was running out. Passing wasn't a good option, anyway. And I just hit a triple before, so I just said that it was my shot and I wasn't going to let anyone interfere."
Belga and the Elasto Painters had plenty to be happy about after avoiding the sweep. That was in stark contrast to their demeanor entering halftime, where sloppy play lost them an 18-point lead.
"In the first half we had 15 turnovers. I told my team that it's the equivalent of a full-game total. In the second half we relaxed and had only two turnovers, and things got better," Belga said.
"We almost had another meltdown, we got the 18-point lead in the first quarter. But you know, like I said, it's really hard playing against San Miguel. I'm just proud that we didn't get swept by a powerhouse team. The players came out, played hard," coach Caloy Garcia said.
McCullough ended with a career-high 51 points for San Miguel, but only Alex Cabagnot (16 points) and Christian Standhardinger (14 points) scored in double-figures as the Beermen failed to grab the first finals seat after erasing an 18-point Rain or Shine lead in the second quarter to nearly steal the win.
Rain or Shine built a large lead early in the second quarter after a Javee Mocon triple gave them a 37-19 advantage, but San Miguel wiped that out thanks to McCullough, who matched the Elasto Painters point for point in the second quarter by putting up 24 markers in that stretch.
McCullough and Cabagnot then teamed up to apply pressure in the third quarter to give SMB a six-point lead entering the final frame, where back-to-back triples from Chris Ross and a tough finish by McCullough underneath gave the Beermen a 95-91 cushion midway as they looked to close out Rain or Shine heading into the final stages of the game.
The Elasto Painters would not be denied, though, as they slowly chipped away at the lead before that Norwood trey kickstarted a 10-0 finishing kick.
"When we led by 18, turnovers became our problem again. That's the only thing I addressed at halftime. I just told them 'If you want to win the game, you have to man up and you know, don't turn the ball over, because San Miguel is so good. When you turn the ball over, they score every time,'" Garcia said.
"We just didn't want to lose today, I guess," added Garcia. "So we hope that maybe we can still extend the series again and try to bring it to a Game 5."
THE SCORES
Rain or Shine (112) - Montgomery 25, Nambatac 22, Mocon 16, Belga 16, Norwood 11, Ponferada 7, Yap 6, Rosales 5, Daquioag 2, Torres 2, Borboran 0.
San Miguel (104) - McCullough 51, Cabagnot 16, Standhardinger 14, Romeo 9, Fajardo 8, Ross 6, Pessumal 0, Santos 0.
Quarters: 30-16, 54-50, 80-86, 112-104.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
McCullough's 51-point outout was the most by an SMB player since Tyler Wilkerson's 58 in the 2016 Commissioner's Cup, according to PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Cabagnot came two assists shy of passing Willie Generelao (3,256,) for no. 6 in the all-time assists leaderboard. He finished with four dimes against the Elasto Painters.
Rain or Shine has botched a total of 60 points in terms of leads this series. Before tonight's 18-point lead, the team erected a 12-point lead in Game 1 and a massive 29-point advantage in Game 2.