Rain or Shine once again crumbled in the fourth quarter and suffered another heartbreaking 93-86 loss, this time against Qatar in the 2023 William Jones Cup at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium on Tuesday.
The Elasto Painters simply couldn’t find their momentum in the final frame, as the Qataris delivered crucial blows in the last five minutes, leaving the Filipinos still searching for their first win after four games in the tournament.
Naturalized player Michael Lewis and forward Nedim Muslic were the major thorns in the side of the Elasto Painters, contributing 15 of Qatar’s 24 fourth-quarter points.
Despite facing various defenses from Rain or Shine, Lewis led the way with 19 points.
Ndoye Seydou added 18 points, while Muslic finished with 12 for Qatar, which took control of the game after a brief altercation between their big man Haracic Meho and Rain or Shine’s Nick Demusis with 7:25 left and the score tied at 73-all.
The loss squandered Nick Evans’ best performance in an ROS uniform, as he led the team with 20 points.
However, similar to the last game, he disappeared when he was needed the most, scoring only four points in the second half.
Anton Asistio contributed 16 points, and Santi Santillan had 12 as the Elasto Painters aim to secure their first win against Iran on Wednesday.
