Fresh from a trip to Macau where he was given a chance to watch his fellow Congressman Manny Pacquiao’s bout with Chris Algieri, head coach Yeng Guiao was happy his team provided the thrills and excitement lacking during the one-sided fight last Sunday.
Guiao’s Rain or Shine squad pulled off a come-from-behind 95-93 victory over NLEX in a game which the Elasto Painters should have lost.
“Magandang nailusot namin ito, actually, talo na itong game na ito,” Guiao told media after the game. “Nasilat lang yung NLEX.”
According to Guiao, he was delighted to see his team fashion out a victory via the backdoor, providing excitement for the fans.
“I guess that (game) provided a lot of excitement for everybody because there was not enough excitement in the Pacquiao fight, so we wanted to make a contribution in making this an exciting game.”
Pacquiao knocked down his rival six times, but had to go the distance and settle for a unanimous decision win.
Guiao’s team, on the other hand, had to fight back from six points down in the last 34 seconds.
But the more experienced Elasto Painters refused to quit and charged back strong.
Paul Lee made a quick outlet pass to Gabe Norwood who scored in transition. Three seconds later, KG Canaleta put NLEX on top by six.
In the next play, the Road Warriors committed an error, then Rain or Shine went on to its best clutch player– Lee– who drilled in a three-pointer and busted the zone defense of NLEX to shove his team to within one.
NLEX ran a similar play in its next offensive thrust– a back pick was set for Canaleta for an alley-oop, which was not converted, allowing Lee to go hard in transition and draw a foul on Mac Cardona.
His two free-throws gave the Elasto Painters the lead and the team showed its poise in the waning seconds of the game.
