Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

Parks, Smith link up as Blackwater forces Rain or Shine to sudden death


Smith finished with 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting along with 18 rebounds, two assists, and a block — a showing way different from the 16-point outing he had in the series opener over the past weekend where he went 2-for-11.

The 6-foot-9 center was also pivotal for the Elite down the stretch, hitting a fadeaway jumper to push their lead to 97-93 with 44.7 seconds left. That closed the door for the Elasto Painters, who fought back from 14 points down.

“He vowed to really play well tonight. Talagang gusto niya makabawi from that Game One loss. I thank him for that,” said Blackwater head coach Aris Dimaunahan of Smith. “It’s the real Greg Smith na naglaro tonight.”

Rookie Ray Parks had 28 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block against a team-high five turnovers in the win. He failed to finish Game Two, though, as he incurred his sixth and final foul with 1:02 left in the match.

Mac Belo had 14 points, three boards, two assists, and a steal, as Mike DiGregorio chimed in 13 markers.

“The players played really, really, really well. They refused to lose tonight,” Dimaunahan lauded. “Ayaw pa namin talaga mag-bakasyon and that’s a commitment we all have, that we wanna make it to the next phase.”

“But then again it’s not gonna be easy, especially playing against a veteran, smart and tough Rain or Shine, a very well-coached team. I’m just glad that we finally got a playoff win tonight. I just congratulate them for doing so,” he continued.

Rain or Shine was led by rookie Javee Mocon, who had a career-high 25 points with five rebounds and two assists.

#ReadMore  Despite numerous run-ins, Christian Standhardinger still 'loves' Calvin Abueva

Beau Belga and Mark Borboran produced 13 points apiece while import Carl Montgomery got limited to just 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting, though he made up for it by collecting 15 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.

The Elasto Painters missed the services of Ed Daquioag due to a leg injury, per RoS head coach Caloy Garcia.

The deciding Game Three is on Thursday, July 25, at 7:00 PM still at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The Scores:

Blackwater 100 – Smith 31, Parks 28, Belo 14, Digregorio 13, Sena 4, Maliksi 3, Javier 3, Desiderio 2, Cortez 2, Sumang 0, Al-Hussaini 0.

Rain or Shine 96 – Mocon 25, Borboran 13, Belga 13, Alejandro 12, Montgomery 11, Rosales 10, Nambatac 9, Ponferada 2, Onwubere 1, Norwood 0.

Quarterscores: 24-15, 38-35, 68-64, 100-96

Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.




You May Also Like

Basketball

Stanley Pringle has taken matters into his own hands. With the Terrafirma franchise still in limbo and its future uncertain, the 6-foot-1 Filipino-American guard...

Basketball

A change of direction taken by the Korean Basketball League (KBL) team, his camp had spoken to ended Adrian Nocum’s hopes of taking his...

Basketball

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao is keeping their options open as the team looks for possible upgrades following another PBA semifinal exit....

Basketball

Despite everything that came its way, TNT is marching on to the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals after showing Rain or Shine the...

Basketball

National University settled for a silver-medal finish in the 2025 BLIA Cup University Basketball Invitational after falling to Japan Women’s College of Physical Education,...

Basketball

Rain or Shine avoided elimination–for now–following a 113-97 victory over a severely undermanned TNT to take Game 5 of their PBA Season 49 Philippine...

Basketball

From the looks of it, TNT reaching the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals is no longer a matter of how, but has become...

Basketball

Adrian Nocum isn’t going anywhere. The rising star guard on Tuesday signed a fresh three-year extension with Rain or Shine as the franchise clearly...

Advertisement