The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters squandered a huge lead during the fourth period but managed to hang on and nip GlobalPort, 104-98, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Paul Lee opened up the match on fire with two straight triples to give the Elasto Painters an early six-point lead. Playing zone busters, the Elasto Painters made their perimeter shots to notch a 12-4 lead capped with a layup by Jervy Cruz. Rain or Shine established its first double-digit lead with a three-pointer by Gabe Norwood. Despite Lee catching fire with two long-ranged heaves in the dying minutes of the opening frame, GlobalPort managed to trim the deficit to seven at the end of the first quarter, 20-27.
Batang Pier’s trio of Stanley Pringle, Terrence Romeo and CJ Leslie anchored the rally for GlobalPort and managed to trim the deficit to three. GlobalPort played the passing lanes with their trap defense and forced the Painters to multiple turnovers en route to fastbreak chances. After a timeout, GlobalPort rushed and pushed to grab the lead with a wing triple from TY Tang and a conversion by Pringle.
From that point until the halftime buzzer, both teams exchanged buckets to pile up lead changes. Lee once again knocked a booming triple just as the buzzer sounded for his fourth triple in the first 24 minutes. It was Rain or Shine that escaped with a one-point lead heading into the locker rooms, 53-52.
Rain or Shine unleashed an impressive 14-4 rampage to start the second half with the non-import lineup doing damage offensively and defensively. Increasing the margin, the Elasto Painters also drained their free throws during the third quarter and managed to pile up the stops to seemingly pull away and pound their struggling counterpart.
Fouled while attempting a trey, Lee swished in all freebies to give Rain or Shine a 15-point lead at 71-56. To cap off their great third quarter, the Elasto Painters limited GlobalPort to only six points and led by 17 heading into the final period, 75-58.
Reinforcement Leslie led the astonishing fight back for GlobalPort as multiple and successive baskets quickly sliced the gap to single digits. Despite the triples serving as the response by Rain or Shine, the GlobalPort squad climbed their way back via timely hits from Romeo.
In the ensuing possessions, both teams exchanged triples entering the final minutes of the tight ballgame. Trailing by six with less than a minute to play, Leslie made a single freet hrow out of his two attempts but managed to putback the second one to make it a one possession game. With the Elasto Painters draining a couple of much-needed free throws to seal the deal, a three-point hoist for GlobalPort hit nothing but air to cement the victory for Rain or Shine.
Lee topscored Rain or Shine with 25 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting while also draining all ten of his free throws. His guard counterpart for GlobalPort, Romeo led his squad with 29.
The scores:
Rain or Shine 104 -Lee 25, Jackson 16, Cruz 10, Chan 9, Belga 9, Tang 8, Uyloan 7, Norwood 7, Araña 6, Almazan 3, Tiu 2, Quinahan 2, Ibañes 0.
Globalport 98 -Leslie 29, Romeo 29, Pringle 16, Isip 8, Buenafe 4, Ponferada 4, Miranda 3, Jensen 3, Semerad 1, Taha 1, Caperal 0, Pinto 0, Baclao 0.
Quarters: 27-20; 53-52; 75-58; 104-98.
