Rain or Shine forces rubber match, delays Grand Slam

PBA/Nuki Sabio | Paul Lee takes on three blue shirts yesterday

No Grand Slam celebration is happening just yet.

Rain or Shine, showing their real form in tough defense and balanced scoring attack, foiled San Mig Coffee's one of two Grand Slam shots, 88-79, to set-up a winner-take-all, rubber match come Wednesday night. Rain or Shine will gun for just its second championship despite its strong line-up, while San Mig Coffee is seeking the eluded "triple crown".

It was a tightly contested first quarter, with the score tied at 21-all. But seldom-used third-stringer Jonathan Uyloan brought the spark that Rain or Shine badly needed, scoring eight points with two three-pointers, a steal and a block off Peter June Simon.

After a 12-0 outburst, followed by trading of a couple of baskets, it was Norwood's turn to shine. The Gilas stalwart had a pair of and-one's - one off a fast break stretch lay-up and the other on a putback - and added a triple and an assist to an Arizona Reid triple for good measure. The gap ballooned to 20 points before settling for a 53-38 lead at half time.

The Mixers, though, had the last five points of the half, and continued on a 9-0 blast at the onset of the third to reduce the E-Painters lead to a mere six points.

A trey from Paul Lee stopped the bleeding, and San Mig Coffee found itself at the receiving end of a 6-0 finishing kick to head into the final canto with a 69-55 advantage.

Once again, the Mixers, now led by Philippine Cup Finals MVP Mark Barroca, defiantly shook the Elasto Painters, going into an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter.

But Rain or Shine quickly recovered, this time with nine consecutive points, to finish San Mig Coffee off. Coach Tim Cone waved the white flag by benching his starters 87-69 with approximately two minutes left.

Reid contributed 22 points -a far cry from his 31.7 output - but this time, he had backup. Lee and Norwood each had 14 points. Gilas bruiser Beau Belga also had 13 points, while hot shot Ryan Arana had 10 points. (GS)

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE (88) – Reid 22, Lee 14, Norwood 14, Belga 11, Arana 10, Uyloan 8, Almazan 3, Cruz 2, Tiu 2, Chan 2, Ibanes 0, Rodriguez 0.

SAN MIG COFFEE (79) – Blakely 21, Yap 12, Devance 9, Sangalang 8, Simon 8, Barroca 7, Maliksi 6, Pingris 4, Taha 2, Melton 2, Mallari 0, Reavis 0.

Quarterscores: 21-21, 53-38, 69-55, 88-79.