ANTIPOLO — Rain or Shine made great use of its win-once incentive by giving the more experienced San Miguel the boot, 113-104, to reach the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals, Friday at the Ynares Center here.
Big shots from deep proved to be the difference, with Andrei Caracut nailing a four and Caelan Tiongson hitting a triple in consecutive fashion to highlight a 9-0 run toward a 108-97 lead with 2:35 left, effectively putting the game away
“Alam namin na kapag pinarating pa namin ‘to sa Sunday, malamang sa malamang hindi na namin tatalunin San Miguel,” said Coach Yeng Guiao.
(C) PBA Images
Caracut led the way with a playoff career-high 29 points, while Tiongson came through with 23 as the tandem combined for 13 of the team’s 19 threes.
“Kailangan ko ring bumawi sa mga teammates ko. Ang dami kong mga games na medyo nada-down ko,” said the 30-year-old guard from La Salle, who also had six rebounds, five assists, and a steal on his way to earning Player of the Game honors.
“Di lang naman ako, ‘yung mga teammates ko, grabe, ganda ng laro—sina Caelan, Jaylen, lahat nag-contribute. Magandang panalo para sa amin.”
Import Jaylen Johnson also had 23 points with 12 rebounds and five assists, while Adrian Nocum overcame a subpar shooting night and made 18 points to help the franchise beat the Beermen in a playoff for the first time since 2016.
It happened during the Commissioner’s Cup semis in particular, where Rain or Shine eventually won the championship at the expense of TNT.
“Pero hindi ako naniniwala sa mga ganoon. You still have to earn it. It’s a good sign, but ang daming factors pa na pwede mangyari,” said Guiao when presented with that fact, clearly choosing to stay on an even keel.
Rain or Shine will now prepare for the winner between Ginebra and Phoenix in the other bracket for its opponents in the semis, which starts next week.
(C) PBA Images
Bennie Boatwright, on the other hand, had 24 points and seven rebounds to lead San Miguel, who’s missing the semis after going back-to-back in the last two editions of the Philippine Cup–its pet event, so to speak.
CJ Perez had 19 points. Don Trollano made 14 points and 11 rebounds, with June Mar Fajardo adding a double-double as well, with 12 and 12.
Jericho Cruz also had 12 points, while Kris Rosales had 10, for a team that saw the end of a wobbly conference, largely due to import instability, having brought in a total of three reinforcements after their original choices played elsewhere.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 113 – Caracut 29, Tiongson 23, Johnson 23, Nocum 18, Asistio 6, Clarito 6, Malonzo 4, Mamuyac 2, Santillan 2, Villegas 0, Manaytay 0.
San Miguel 104 – Boatwright 24, Perz 19, Trollano 14, Fajardo 12, Cruz 12, Rosales 10, Ross 7, Lassiter 3, Tautuaa 3, Brondial 0.
Quarterscores: 27-27, 57-56, 83-83, 113-104.
