By Ivan Saldajeno
PASAY--Jeff Chan completed Rain Or Shine's comeback from a late nine-point deficit as it once again frustrated Ginebra, 92-91, in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinal clash at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday night.
Chan stole the ball from Mike Dunigan and scored the eventual game-winning layup with 4.9 seconds left to put the Elasto Painters, which held a twice-to-beat advantage, to the semifinals.
Ginebra raced to a 72-63 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Rain Or Shine fought back and took the lead, 85-84.
The lead continued to exchange hands later in the payoff period until Chan looked to have given the Elasto Painters a relatively comfortable lead after knocking a triple down to go up, 90-87, with 1:33 left.
The Gin Kings, however, scored four straight points to retake the lead, 91-90.
The turnovers haunted Ginebra in the end as Dunigan lost the ball just before the shotclock went off with Chan grabbing the possession and scored the winning layup. Ginebra, which committed 30 errors overall, failed to convert in the end.
Chan, Raymond Almazan, and Wayne Chism each scored 17 for Rain Or Shine, who awaits the winner of the Meralco-NLEX quarterfinal series in the next round. Meralco leads the best-of-three tie, 1-0, with Game 2 slated on Sunday.
Greg Slaughter scored a game-high 26 points while grabbing 16 rebounds for Ginebra.
Box Scores:
Rain or Shine 92—Chism 17, Chan 17, Almazan 17, Lee 9, Norwood 9, Uyloan 5, Arana 4, Quinahan 4, Cruz 4, Teng 2, Tiu 2, Belga 2
Ginebra 91—Slaughter 26, Aguilar 14, Caguioa 14, Dunigan 11, Urbiztondo 7, Tenorio 7, Helterbrand 5, Yeo 4, Baracael 3, Ellis 0
Quarterscores: 21-18, 44-42, 63-68, 92-91
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