Rain or Shine put up yet another solid display of character to beat Blackwater, 122-106, and sustain its winning ways in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday evening at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Elasto Painters nearly wasted their fiery 39-16 start after withering in the second chapter and enabled the Bossing to get to as close as six points, but managed to regain control of the match come the third canto.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s wards would then submit a strong finish to register their fifth win in a row — and remain at no. 2 in the standings with a 5-1 card.
“Maganda ‘yung start namin. But we had a really bad second quarter, that’s why we lost the 23-point lead,” offered head coach Yeng Guiao.
“But, what’s good about it is it’s a game of runs. And, we were able to get enough runs for ourselves to win the game,” he added.
Deon Thompson led Rain or Shine with 25 points and 16 rebounds, overcoming early foul trouble that saw him get three of his four fouls in the first half.
Adrian Nocum fired 22 points, 18 of which he produced in the second half. He scored nine in the third quarter alone, highlighted by a tough acrobatic lay-up to finish the break as he bannered their pullaway for good.
Santi Santillan finished with 20 points, while Anton Asistio supplied 18 as they combined for eight of the team’s 13 three-pointers in the triumph.
Caelan Tiongson chipped in 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists although he wasn’t able to finish the game due to a hurting ankle after inadvertently stepping on the foot of Nocum while jogging back down during the third.
He was no longer brought back in by Guiao as RoS was already in control at the time, and he’s also done his part in making it hard for George King.
King did finish with 35 points to lead Blackwater but he only shot 7-of-20 from the field, garnering most of his points from the line with a 17-of-18 clip.
No other Bossing scored above 11 points, with Mike Ayonayon, Justin Chua, and Christian David the only other double-digit scorers for the crew, who absorbed their third consecutive loss and fell to a 1-6 record.
“The last time na nakalaban namin ‘tong Blackwater, tinambakan nila kami,” said Guiao, referring to the 139-118 loss they suffered in the Season 49 Governors’ Cup last September in which King erupted for 64 big points.
“That was an additional motivation for us in our preparation for this game. Alam namin na may capacity sila to play really well,” added the champion mentor.
The Elasto Painters will look to make it six straight when they take on Phoenix on Saturday, January 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 122 – Thompson 25, Nocum 22, Santillan 20, Asistio 18, Tiongson 11, Clarito 9, Demusis 8, Caracut 6, Ildefonso 1, Belga 0, Norwood 0, Lemetti 0, Escandor 0.
Blackwater 106 – King 35, Ayonayon 11, David 10, Chua 10, Escoto 9, Ponferrada 6, Suerte 6, Kwekuteye 5, Jopia 5, Hill 4, Casio 3, Corteza 2, Guinto 0
Quarterscores: 39-25, 56-47, 94-79, 122-106.
