Rain or Shine got at least a semblance of its old form back heading into the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals following a 142-131 victory over the also-ran Titan Ultra at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Friday night.
The Elasto Painters actually gave up 42 points in the second period but replied by firing 48 in the ensuing frame for a 116-90 lead, and the game would never be in doubt since as they went on to finish the preliminaries with a 9-3 record.
With that, they’ve taken the no. 2 spot provisionally and could have a chance to keep it that way, depending heavily on the remaining games this weekend.
(C) PBA Images
“Mindset lang namin going into the game was to get nine wins, and prepare ourselves mentally and physically for the playoffs,” said Coach Yeng Guiao, whose team is already assured of a twice-to-beat advantage for the next round.
Jaylen Johnson led Rain or Shine’s balanced attack with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, which he laced with a steal and two blocks.
Rookie Christian Manaytay finished with a conference-high 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench on the way to earning Player of the Game honors.
Caelan Tiongson made 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Santi Santillan notched 14 points and 12 rebounds, with Adrian Nocum adding 14 as well.
All 13 players of Guiao scored at least three points in the victory, thanks to their concerted effort to move the ball, eventually finishing with 42 assists.
“Forty-two assists, 43 fastbreak points… This is exactly what coaches dream of. Just the ball movement, the speed that we play with, alam namin ‘pah kalaban mo ‘yung Titan, they play almost the same style as we do,” Guiao said.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanila doon sa meeting namin before the game yesterday, para tayong dalawang boksingero na standing toe-to-toe, bigayan lang tayo; kung sino ang matira, kung sinong nakatayo at the end of the day, ‘yun ang mananalo,” he added.
(C) PBA Images
Bryan Sajonia, on the other hand, had 23 points for Titan Ultra, which ended its second-ever conference in the league with seven straight losses.
Joshua Munzon had 21 points. Fran Yu made 17 points and seven assists, Aris Dioniso supplied 15, while Von Pessumal and Jerrick Balanza added 12 each.
The locals did much of the work offensively after import Michael Gilmore only made nine points on 15 attempts, although he had 10 rebounds.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 142 – Johnson 31, Tiongson 18, Manaytay 18, Nocum 14, Santillan 14, Caracut 8, Cuajao 8, Malonzo 7, Asistio 7, Villegas 6, David 5, Clarito 3, Belga 3.
Titan Ultra 131 – Sajonia 23, Munzon 21, Yu 17, Dionisio 15, Pessumal 12, Balanza 10, Gilmore 9, Ular 9, Melecio 6, Ambohot 3, Buntapay 2, Caralipio 2, Omega 0, Sangco 0, Javillonar 0.
Quarterscores: 32-21, 68-64, 116-90, 142-131.
