ANTIPOLO — Rain or Shine needed to do a little bit of everything to gut out a 115-111 victory over Ginebra and take Game 1 of their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Ynares Center here, Wednesday night.
Adrian Nocum capitalized on a Justin Brownlee foul and sank both of his charities to give themselves the lead for good at 108-107 with 1:56 to spare. Then Jhonard Clarito and Gian Mamuyac came in to push the spread to six.
Yet that lead wasn’t fully safe, as the Kings put up a last-ditch effort to come back. Scottie Thompson knocked down a booming four-pointer from the right wing to cut the gap to a field goal, 113-111, with only 19.8 seconds left.
Clarito would then come through with a pair of free throws for the eventual scoreline with 16.1 seconds left. The Elasto Painters leaned on defense afterwards to deny RJ Abarrientos from getting any good look from four as time expired.
The Elasto Painters breathed a sigh of relief as they managed to pull off the escape after trailing by ten early in the fourth. They have now won a best-of-7 semis opener for the first time since the 2019 Philippine Cup.
(C) PBA Images
“To play a team like Ginebra — GOAT import, the GOAT coach, half of the Gilas team, the probable Best Player of the Conference, they’re deep… Parang, sino ba kami?” head coach Yeng Guiao offered. “Lumaban lang tayo.
“Tingnan lang natin hanggang saan tayo. At least, nailusot natin ‘yung Game One. Nakaisang tsamba. Tingnan natin,” added the champion mentor.
Jaylen Johnson submitted his best game to date with 40 big points and 19 rebounds as he bravely went toe-to-toe with the revered Brownlee.
More locked in this time around, with his dancing antics toned down, he shot 15-of-28 from the floor. That included an 8-of-15 clip from three and 1-of-2 from four, as his timely hits enabled the crew to stay in the fight in the final period.
Clarito finished with 25 points and six rebounds as his crucial plays down the stretch more than atoned for his past misfires, including a scoreless outing versus the Barangay in the elimination round last May.
Mamuyac produced 18 points and five assists, together with a rebound, a steal, and the clutch block on Abarrientos. He then converted on the other end for the 113-107 lead with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game.
Nocum supplied 16 points, as the usual suspects stepped up, although the Elasto Painters also received 12 points from youngster Mike Malonzo.
“I have to commend the players. We lost Caelan Tiongson today — masama ang kanyang tiyan — and we lost Luis Villegas in the fourth, but we kept on fighting,” Guiao said as his men fought on after their two bigs got sent to sick bay.
(C) PBA Images
Brownlee, on the other hand, led Ginebra with 32 points in the defeat, where the team lost hold of the 84-74 lead they built barely two minutes into the fourth.
Abarrientos had 21 points on 20 shots, including 14 attempts from deep, while Thompson made 17 points and seven rebounds as he chose to finish the game even after suffering a nasty bump on the forehead with 31.6 seconds left.
The trio even gave their side the 107-102 lead with 2:23 remaining, but the opposition was just too tough a nut to crack. Johnson nailed a four to cut the gap to a point, signaling the turnaround that left the Kings frustrated.
Rain or Shine put together a 13-2 scoring spree to finish the game that was witnessed by a total of 10,412 screaming fans — the third all-time largest crowd in this venue, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
“This is a really good game for the fans. Kasi natutuwa ako na ‘pag pinapanood nila ‘yung Rain or Shine, manalo o matalo, nag-e-enjoy sila. Kampi man sila sa amin o hindi, gusto ko lang mag-enjoy ‘yung mga fans,” Guiao said.
Game 2 is on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 115 – Johnson 40, Clarito 25, Mamuyac 18, Nocum 16, Malonzo 12, Caracut 2, Manaytay 2, Santillan 0, Asistio 0, Villegas 0.
Ginebra 111 – Brownlee 32, Abarrientos 21, Thompson 17, Pinto 13, Gray 8, Holt 7, Rosario 7, J. Aguilar 4, Cu 2, Torres 0
Quarterscores: 26-17, 42-49, 74-77, 115-111.
