Rain or Shine evened things with Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals following a dominant, skid-ending 97-85 victory in Game 4 on Friday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters pulled away in the second period, before withstanding the Kings’ third-quarter comeback attempt. The team then finished strong on the way to picking up another win in the race-to-4 affair after falling short in Games 2 and 3.
But more importantly, they’ve now reduced the series to a virtual best-of-3, with both teams now tied at two games apiece. And that makes Game 5 on Friday all the more crucial, as the winning side moves a step closer to the Finals.
(C) PBA Images
“Ito lang naman ang gusto namin: pahabain ang series. The longer the series, I feel like we have a chance — chance lang naman,” said head coach Yeng Guiao.
Rain or Shine pulled it off even with Jaylen Johnson hounded by foul trouble, which saw him garner five. But he still top-scored for the team with 13 points, alongside 12 rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes.
That was thanks to the locals stepping up, led by team captain Gian Mamuyac with 12 points, half of which he earned from three.
Rookie Christian Manaytay came through with 11 points, with his seniors Adrian Nocum and Jhonard Clarito adding the same amount of points. All but one of the 13 players fielded in the match contributed at least three points.
But while their balanced attack did wonders, the Elasto Painters took more pride in their defense as they managed to limit their usually potent foes.
(C) PBA Images
Justin Brownlee, for one, did finish with 27 points, but shot 9-of-20 from the floor in a showing where he also had 10 rebounds and four assists.
RJ Abarrientos found himself held to only eight points on eight shots, as last season’s Rookie of the Year struggled to find any rhythm, especially from deep.
Scottie Thompson took the scoring cudgels with 20 points but only collected a pair of rebounds and three assists — subpar numbers by his own standards.
Japeth Aguilar was the only other player in double figures with 10 points, which he laced with 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the series.
“I think it’s a team effort. As you can see, it was our game plan to contain Justin and RJ, and that’s been our job,” said Player of the Game Manaytay.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 97 – Johnson 13, Mamuyac 12, Nocum 11, Manaytay 11, Clarito 11, Malonzo 9, David 8, Caracut 6, Tiongson 5, Santillan 5, Asistio 3, Belga 3, Cuajao 0.
Ginebra 85 – Brownlee 27, Thompson 20, Aguilar 10, Abarrientos 8, Holt 8, Pinto 4, Abis 4, Rosario 3, Cu 1, Torres 0, Go 0, Gray 0, Carino 0, Estil 0.
Quarterscores: 31-23, 58-36, 77-65, 97-85.
