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BUZZER-BEATING TRIUMPH

Araña’s late basket keeps RoS Fiesta campaign alive

By Arman Carandang

06/26/2010

Ryan Araña deserves a big pat on the back from Rain or Shine.

The lefty shooting guard beat two big rebounders as he followed up on Rod Nealy’s missed jumper just before the buzzer sounded, lifting the Elasto Painters to a pulsating 113-111 win over Air21 in the PBA Fiesta Conference.

The Express had just tied the count at 111-all on Dough Kramer’s conversion of Leroy Hickerson’s assist at the break, time down to only 19 seconds left in the game watched by a lean Friday crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

After the Elasto Painters’ inbound, Nealy almost wasted the time dribbling while making an approach at the basket, then heaved a jumper only to miss on a tight guarding.

Fortunately for the Elasto Painters, Araña was there in the right place where the ball went after the miss, and quickly made the follow-up that broke the 111-all count and lifted Rain or Shine to its eighth win in 17 outings.

Araña’s big follow-up capped the Elasto Painters rise from 28 points down, while keeping the team still in contention for the last outright quarterfinal berth which the Elasto Painters could clinch if they beat Coca-Cola on Sunday and Barangay Ginebra (in the playoff) or either of the two, depending on the situation.

The loss was a big hear-breaker indeed for the Express, who appeared headed for a breezy win when they posted a lead as big as 28 points, 88-60 late in the third quarter behind the efforts of Hickerson.

But the Express turned cold in the fourth quarter, and their lazy and pathetic offense was quite obvious as Hickerson who usually went for deep penetrations seemed to have lost his heart to carry game. He in fact refused to take the cudgel by making passes and not the needed shots in the crucial fourth period.

The Express ended their elimination campaign on a sour ending as they picked up their 14th loss in 18 outings. They are also in danger of getting eliminated, although it could only happen if Barako Energy Coffee, which is in the cellar with 3-14 slate, prevails over Derby Ace next meeting. In which case, they (Express) and the Energy Coffee Masters will dispute the last berth in the wild card phase.

“Sol (Mercado), Ryan (Araña), (Rod) Nealy, Gabe (Norwood) and (Mike) Hrabak gave all their best in defense... how to control Hickerson,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.

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