Rain or Shine displayed composure and came out with the 109-105 result against Magnolia to get ahead in their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup best-of-5 quarterfinal series, Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Caelan Tiongson nailed a gutsy three for the 103-102 lead with 1:25 left in the game, before the rest of the Elasto Painters came in to make sure that they wouldn’t fold up despite the barrage of outside shots their foes unloaded.
Aaron Fuller, Andrei Caracut, and Jhonard Clarito came through with crucial free throws after that go-ahead trey, as the unit of Coach Yeng Guiao finished the game with an 11-3 spurt to come back from a 102-98 deficit with 2:54 remaining.
“Advantage is just willing to battle,” said the champion mentor. “We were just trying to grind it out. Noong natirahan kami ng tatlo, apat yatang four-point shots yun, a team of weaker stuff would have folded up.”
“It’s a testament to the character of the guys,” continued Guiao. “We were able to come back out of that … we made some big plays.”
Fuller finished with another impressive 20-20 outing with 24 points and 20 rebounds to lead the no. 1 seed of Group B in the character victory.
He actually had four assists as well, one of which led to the crucial trey of Tiongson that swung momentum in their favor the rest of the way.
“Aaron just did a yeoman’s job in the middle. 20-20 na naman yata siya,” Guiao said. “We feel that he’s really the anchor that we can rely on game after game.”
Clarito supplied 20 points and five rebounds to seize Player of the Game honors. Adrian Nocum, fresh off earning All-Rookie Team honors in the PBA Press Corps Awards Night on Tuesday, made 14 points.
Santi Santillan flirted with a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Gian Mamuyac chimed in 12 markers as well with six boards.
Tiongson and Caracut added nine apiece in the victory that saw Rain or Shine dominate the boards, 65-45, 20 of which were on the offensive end.
Now, the Elasto Painters will look to push their series lead to 2-0 when they take on one another again on Friday at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex.
“Maybe tomorrow we can find a really good scheme so that on Friday, we’re able to better handle it,” said Guiao.
Rayvonte Rice, meanwhile, led Magnolia with 16 points — albeit on 6-of-20 shooting — in the loss that saw the team blow a 94-84 lead.
Rice, in his second game with the Hotshots, also committed a foul on Caracut with 33.4 seconds left after a miscommunication with the coaches, all of which were instructing not to give up any foul as they were in penalty.
Paul Lee was just a rebound short of a rare triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds, and 13 assists. He actually had a chance to tie the game with a four, but couldn’t get a good look from that area as time expired.
Wasted by the collapse also was the 15-point effort of Jerrick Ahanmisi, who nailed three of the team’s six four-pointers in the game.
Mark Barroca (12 points), Zav Lucero (11 points), and Ian Sangalang (11 points) all contributed, too, but their efforts weren’t enough to lift their side.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 109 – Fuller 24, Clarito 20, Nocum 14, Santillan 12, Mamuyac 12, Caracut 9, Tiongson 9, Lemetti 5, Belga 2, Datu 2, Asistio 0.
Magnolia 105 – Rice 16, Lee 15, Ahanmisi 15, Barroca 12, Lucero 11, Sangalang 11, Dela Rosa 8, Dionisio 7, Abueva 6, laput 2, Eriobu 2, Mendoza 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 19-16, 51-50, 82-80, 109-105.
