Elasto Painters sizzle from afar, force rubber

Game on Sunday (MOA Arena)

6:30 p.m. – Magnolia vs Rain or Shine

Series tied, 3-3

ANTIPOLO, Philippines — Pushed to the wall, Rain or Shine fought back hard against Magnolia and gave itself a fighting chance to vie for the remaining seat in the PBA Philippine Cup finals against the waiting San Miguel Beermen.

Sparked by Rey Nambatac’s red-hot three-point shooting in the fourth, the Elasto Painters roared to a massive 91-81 victory over the Hotshots to force a deciding Game Seven in their tightly fought semifinal showdown last night at Ynares Sports Center here.

Nambatac dropped four of RoS’ six money-time three-pointers that triggered the Elasto Painters’ breakaway for the series-tying win that set the stage for the rubbermatch on Sunday at the MOA Arena.

“Yesterday during practice, we told the players to just enjoy the game and tried to keep it simple. The last three games were close and we just have to learn from it,” said RoS coach Caloy Garcia.

The Elasto Painters were engaged in a close battle with the Hotshots before Nambatac’s barrage of treys lifted RoS to an 83-71 cushion going to the last 3:56 of play.

“Nambatac stepped up big time today,” said Garcia of Nambatac, who made 13 of his 16 in the payoff period and had 4-of-6 (66.7 percent accuracy) from beyond the arc overall.

James Yap also tallied 16 to go with seven rebounds while Beau Belga and Jewel Ponferada added 15 and 11, respectively, as the Elasto Painters averted disaster after losing the last three games in the race-to-four affair.

“We actually didn’t think too much about what’s going to happen, we just wanted to play our game and it worked. Hopefully, we do it again in Game Seven,” said Garcia.

Ian Sangalang (19), Paul Lee (18) and Jio Jalalon (14) showed the way for Magnolia, which will try to make the most of its second chance to arrange a title rematch with the reigning champs.

Meanwhile, SMB coach Leo Austria said having gone through a bruising encounter with Phoenix Pulse in the semifinals should toughen up the Beermen for the finals.

“Phoenix pushed us to the limit and they prepared us for the finals,” said Austria, whose wards nailed their franchise best fifth consecutive all-Filipino finals berth after finishing off the F-Masters in five games.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 91 – Nambatac 16, Yap 16, Belga 15, Ponferada 11, Torres 8, Norwood 8, Rosales 7, Ahanmisi 5, Daquioag 2, Mocon 2, Borboran 1.

MAGNOLIA 81 – Sangalang 19, Lee 18, Jalalon 14, Herndon 9, Brondial 6, Melton 5, Reavis 4, Barroca 3, Ramos 3, Dela Rosa 0, Pascual 0, Abundo 0.

Quarterscores: 21-17, 41-35, 62-62, 91-81