VERSATILE wingman, Ryan Arana, proved his tremendous worth to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters once again as his performances in back-to-back games helped put them within a win away of a spot in the finals of the PBA Philippine Cup.
For this, the former La Salle standout was named as the Player of the Week for the period Dec. 24 to 30, the last recipient of the award for 2012. In that span of time, the fiery lefty did it all in the semifinals duel with San Mig Coffee, scoring, assisting, swiping the ball, and making some hustle plays while taking his turn trying to shackle the likes of James Yap and PJ Simon.
Arana shared the limelight with teammates Gabe Norwood and Ronnie Matias in the E-Painters’ 83-74 win in Game Four of the best-of-seven series last Thursday, when he scored 13 points, nine in the third quarter that helped Rain or Shine take a 54-36 lead. He spiked that output by stealing the ball thrice, hauling down two rebounds, and issuing as many feeds that propped the E-Painters’ drive to a 3-1 series lead.
Arana was likewise as effective in Game Three where he scored all of eight his points in a second quarter surge that set the tone for a 98-72 win. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio