Rain or Shine avoided falling into a precarious situation in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals following a 106-96 upset of TNT at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Friday night.
The Elasto Painters took control of the game in the second quarter before pulling away for good in the final period on the way to securing the sixth seed entering the playoffs’ first round instead of vying for the eighth spot.
Had they lost, they’d be figuring in the knockout game against Magnolia, who earlier beat Meralco by way of a 129-92 wire-to-wire win.
The Hotshots will instead play NLEX in a battle between 6-6 teams for the remaining quarters ticket on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
RoS, for its part, will be facing the third-seeded Converge in a best-of-3 series that starts next week — the best scenario for a team that struggled this January.
(C) PBA Images
“It’s our biggest win this conference,” said head coach Yeng Guiao as they lost four of their previous five games before scoring Friday’s crucial win.
“Hinahabol talaga namin maka-pitong panalo kami (7-5) pero it took us all the way to our last game to get the seventh win,” he added.
Import Deon Thompson top-scored in the victory with 22 points and 16 rebounds, together with five assists and a block.
Anton Asistio fired 21 points behind a hot 6-of-7 clip from three, scoring 14 in just the first half to help his side to a 57-44 lead entering the break.
Santi Santillan nailed five triples and ended up with 20 points in the win that witnessed Rain or Shine shoot an impressive 17-of-31 from the first arc.
“Ayaw na namin mag-playoff,” Guiao said. “Kaya sabi ko, ibuhos niyo na rito sa laro na ‘to ‘yung lahat ng makakayanan natin para at least even tayo pagdating ng quarterfinals, even tayo sa makakatapat natin.”
(C) PBA Images
The loss, on the other hand, hardly affected the Tropang Giga as they’re already assured of the no. 2 spot after what happened in the Magnolia-Meralco tiff.
Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, TNT (8-4) will meet the no. 7 Hong Kong Eastern in the next round, hoping of course to maximize its incentive.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Tropa with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Calvin Oftana backed him up with 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 106 – Thompson 22, Asistio 21, Santillan 20, Tiongson 13, Caracut 9, Nocum 8, Belga 5, Datu 3, Clarito 3, Malonzo 2, Norwood 0.
TNT 96 – Hollis-Jefferson 23, Oftana 20, Pogoy 13, Erram 13, Nambatac 11, Williams 6, Razon 4, Castro 3, Khobuntin 3, Galinato 0, Exciminiano 0, Aurin 0.
Quarterscores: 23-27, 57-44, 75-74, 106-96
