Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ frontline was relatively thin with the absence of injured big man Raymond Almazan.
But it hardly mattered, as the Elasto Painters outlasted the San Miguel Beermen, 111-106, in Game 3 of their Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Saturday (January 9).
In his lieu, it was Beau Belga who shone the brightest at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Belga, despite being hobbled by foul trouble, came through with a sterling performance of 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The undersized center scored five consecutive points inside the final four minutes that put the Elasto Painters on top for good, 104-98.
“Our willingness to defend and play properly keyed this win, especially with Raymond out,” said Belga in Filipino.
Actually, six other players finished in double figures for the Elasto Painters, who now hold a 2-1 upperhand in the best-of-seven series.
Paul Lee, who played in his third game coming off a knee injury, topscored for Rain or Shine with 18 points.
Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan registered 13 points each. Jewel Ponferada and Chris Tiu had 12 apiece, while Maverick Ahanmisi scored 10.
This balanced offense allowed the Elasto Painters to recover from the Beermen’s 36-20 onslaught in the penultimate period and negate June Mar Fajardo’s monstrous performance.
Fajardo scattered 40 points to go with 20 rebounds and three blocks.
In fact, the 6-10 behemoth, who averaged 37 points coming into the game, got a lot of help from his teammates unlike in Game 2.
Marcio Lassiter shot six three-pointers on his way to 22 points, while Arwind Santos and Ronald Tubid added 12 and 11, respectively.
But their collective effort wasn’t enough in the game that had no clear victor until the last five seconds of the contest.
Within that stretch, Tiu canned all four free throws to seal the victory.
