Rain or Shine continued to streak after chalking up its third win in a row with a 97-82 wire-to-wire victory over Terrafirma in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Saturday night.
The Elasto Painters started out the game strong after building a huge lead that stretched to as much as 30 points in the first half.
Johnedel Cardel’s wards were able to neutralize the momentum of their opponents as they slowly trimmed the deficit down to 11 midway through the fourth quarter.
However, timely baskets from Rain or Shine were able to fend off Terrafirma’s comeback bid down the stretch to secure the victory.
Beau Belga, Gabe Norwood, and Mike Nieto all missed action against the Dyip after being put in the league’s health and safety protocols.
“The whole month of not winning and now three wins in a row, lessons are kinda learned through the fire,” claimed head coach Chris Gavina moments after their win. “Today was a great game for our third-team guys to get a lot of quality minutes and develop that next-man-up mentality for us so we’re extremely happy to be in the position we’re in.”
Both Andrei Caracut and Anton Asistio connived to lead the Elasto Painters’ offense with 14 markers apiece. Leonard Santillan added 13 points and eight rebounds while Shaun Ildefonso stepped up with 10 points, five rebounds, and an assist.
Rey Nambatac finished with a near triple-double of seven points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, and a steal off the bench.
Rain or Shine (4-6) will look to wrap up its elimination round with a win against Magnolia (6-3) on Wednesday, July 20, at 6:00 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Aldrech Ramos spearheaded the Dyip with 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while Joseph Gabayni followed with 12 points, three rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Coming off a 19-point outing last Thursday against San Miguel, Javi Gomez De Liaño went scoreless this time around, going 0-4 from the field. He collected four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in close to 14 minutes of action off the bench.
Terrafirma (0-10) will aim to finally break through the win column against Meralco (5-4) on Thursday, July 21, at 5:15 PM also at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 97 – Caracut 14, Asistio 14, Santillan 13, Ildefonso 10, Torres 9, Ponferrada 9, Demusis 8, Nambatac 7, Mamuyac 7, Clarito 3, Borboran 2
Terrafirma 82 – Ramos 21, Gabayni 12, Camson 11, Calvo 10, Munzon 9, Cahilig 7, Mina 7, Javelona 3, Balagasay 2, Gomez de Liano 0, Tumalip 0
Quarterscores: 33-18, 59-33, 78-63, 97-82
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
