Rain or Shine dug deep and turned back Magnolia in a playoff-like battle between perennial contenders, 91-82, for a quick rebound in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Sunday night.
Gian Mamuyac pulled off back-to-back stops, Adrian Nocum finally found the mark after firing blanks, and Jaylen Johnson would go on to drop the hammer as the Elasto Painters completed the rally from down 70-66 early in the fourth.
Thanks to the troika plus the efforts of workhorse Jhonard Clarito, the current leaders bounced back from their loss to Phoenix the last time on the way to collecting win no. 8, moving closer to their goal of netting nine wins.
(C) PBA Images
“This is a tough win for us. We had to tough it out in this game. But we like those kinds of wins; those are tests of character,” Coach Yeng Guiao said.
“So magandang panalo ito para sa amin, saka nalapit kami doon sa nine wins na kailangan namin,” added the champion mentor as their sights are set on securing a Top Four finish for a win-once quarterfinal incentive.
Mamuyac starred in the victory with a career second-best 25 points, on top of two rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block as his assertiveness on both ends, especially on defense, proved to be the difference.
He stole the ball not once but twice from Mark Barroca successively, and both stops led to buckets–first a layup of his to put them ahead, and then an unmolested layup for Nocum for the 73-70 count with 7:13 remaining.
Nocum, who was 0-for-7 before that shot, got his rhythm and followed it up with a trifecta to push the lead further. ‘JJ’ and Clarito would come in afterwards to make it an 80-73 spread as momentum completely shifted their way.
Johnson would go on to serve the exclamation point to the massive reversal by slamming home a one-handed jam in the face of Zavier Lucero to stretch the spread back to seven points, 87-80, with only 1:21 to spare.
He then pulled off his signature shimmy, but their foes didn’t appreciate it as much as the fans did, as Magnolia team consultant Erick Arejola confronted him, leading to a heated spat as Guiao stepped in to his import’s defense.
“I was trying to protect my players because he was trying to intimidate my player. I had to do something,” said the fiery bench tactician.
(C) PBA Images
Cooler heads did prevail, and both Guiao and Arejola would be slapped with technical fouls, but that hardly changed the game’s outcome as Rain or Shine eventually left with the nine-point win, with ‘Mamu’ applying the final touches.
Johnson finished with 25 points as well, together with 14 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block for a full line, finding redemption himself after a poor shooting performance (5-of-25) against the Fuel Masters of Charles Tiu.
Clarito came through with 18 points and nine rebounds while Nocum had eight points in a rare off-night, all of which he scored in the deciding chapter.
“Medyo mabagal kami nung umpisa, and we were also not making our three-point shots and free throws. We pushed the pace in the second half and medyo nakuha na namin ‘yong rhythm namin,” said Guiao of the turnaround.
Rain or Shine will look to chalk up that crucial ninth win when it takes on NLEX on Wednesday, April 29, in a battle between the no. 1 and 2 seeds.
Clint Chapman, on the other hand, had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Magnolia in the loss that snapped their two-game winning streak. It was a tough game for the sweet-shooting big all in all, due to foul trouble, eventually fouling out late.
Lucero and Jerom Lastimosa were his only support with 16 markers apiece in the collapse, which dropped the Hotshots to below .500 again (4-5).
Guiao and Hotshots team consultant Erick Arejola got into a heated spat at center court with 1:21 left, leading to technical fouls.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 91 – Johnson 25, Mamuyac 25, Clarito 18, Nocum 8, Asistio 5, Santillan 3, Villegas 2, Roque 2, Malonzo 2, Tiongson 1, Cuajao 0, David 0, Manaytay 0.
Magnolia 82 – Chapman 17, Lastimosa 16, Lucero 16, Barroca 9, Dela Rosa 8, Sangalang 8, Lee 4, Alfaro 2, Verano 2, Andrada 0, Gomez de Liano 0.
Quarterscores: 20-25, 38-41, 66-62, 91-82.
