Araña buzzer beater caps Painters' win vs Express

Ryan Araña did his best impersonation of Ron Artest and the result was good enough for Rain or Shine to complete one of the greatest comebacks in the annals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The former De La Salle stalwart scored on a putback with five-tenths of a second, helping the Elasto Painters complete a comeback from 28 down and frustrate the Air21 Express, 113-111, in the PBA Fiesta Cup Friday night.

Arana’s game-winning follow-up, reminiscent of Artest’s Game 5 heroics in the NBA Western Coference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns, gave the Elasto Painters renewed hope of forging a playoff for the last quarterfinal berth in the season-ending meet. The last -econd shot came in the fore after Rod Nealy, Rain or Shine’s new import, missed a pull-up jumper with two seconds left. Ren-Ren Ritualo and the rest of the Express forgot to box out Araña, and the Elasto Painter guard came through with the game’s most important offensive rebound for the winning shot fashioned out before a stunned crowd at the Araneta Coliseum. “We played lazy in the first three quarters," said an obviously relieved Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia. “We’re just happy that we stepped up at the right time." The Elasto Painters have now won eight of its 17 games in the elimination round, just a win away from forcing a playoff against Ginebra for the third quarterfinals berth. They wrap up their elimination round campaign with a game against the Coca-Cola Tigers on Sunday. Nealy scored 41 points, including 19 in the fourth period, in his debut with the team. He also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. Sol Mercado added 19 points, Gabe Norwood 15, while Arana finished with 13 coming off the bench. The loss was truly a heart breaker for Air21. The Express appeared to be coasting for a win and a berth in the playoffs after Leroy Hickerson and Ronjay Buenafe powered them to a lead of as much as 88-60. Unfortunately, they cracked in the end, with Hickerson scoring his first field goal of the period in the final 1:23 of the game. By that time, the Elasto Painters already unleashed a 21-3 run and tasted a 99-98 lead on a reversed slam by Norwood. They extended the lead to 111-105 before Air21 made one final gallant stand. Hickerson scored on back-to-back baskets and Doug Kramer hit underneath for an easy lay-up with 19 seconds to go to tie the count at 111-111. Without timeout, the Elasto Painters put the ball on Nealy’s hands and the former Ginebra import dribbled the seconds away before attacking the basket with four seconds to go. His shot missed its mark, but Arana was there for the follow up basket. Hickerson finished with 34 points and 16 rebounds for the Express (4-14), who also squandered a 30-point lead against Talk `N Text last Nov. 29, 2009 and lost by 13 in the end, 118-105. - RCJ, GMANews.TV