Rain or Shine gave Gabe Norwood another reason to celebrate his special night as it took down Converge, 119-111, to stretch its unbeaten run to six in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Friday.
The game was dedicated to the 41-year-old as the franchise retired his jersey no. 5 during halftime, and the present-day Elasto Painters made sure not to spoil the occasion with a big second-half toward staying atop the standings.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s men were already ahead by seven at the break but the rites seemingly gave an added jolt to the whole crew, turning in 34 big points in the said period to build a commanding 95-75 lead entering the deciding period.
Just like against San Miguel, though, the opposition clawed its way back and knocked within a field goal behind Juan Gomez de Liano with 2:52 left.
But Caelan Tiongson was there to halt their momentum with a perfect trip to the foul line, and then came Jaylen Johnson, who knocked down crucial threes, the last of which settled the eventual scoreline with 20.9 seconds left.
‘JJ’ scored their last eight points of the match and went on to finish with 35 points alongside 21 rebounds, three assists, a steal, and two blocks.
