The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters escaped the Mahindra Enforcers, 103-98, in a ticky-tack game Wednesday evening at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, to extend their winning streak to three games and stay in the hunt for a top four spot in the 2016 PBA Commissioners Cup tournament.
After holding an eight point lead to end the opening quarter, the Elasto Painters were able to lock down on defense and limit the Mahindra offense. The Rain or Shine lead grew as high as 11 points midway through the second stanza through the hot-shooting of JR Quinahan and five straight points by Gabe Norwood.
However, back-to-back fouls called on Maverick Ahanmisi with 1:33 left in the half drew the ire of Yeng Guiao, resulting in his ejection. “I was upset late in the second quarter because I felt that there was one bad call after another. I felt that we were losing our momentum because of the calls,” Yeng Guiao said. The Enforcers then went on an 11-1 run to close out the quarter via Augustus Gilchrist, LA Revilla, and Karl Dehesa that cut the RoS lead to just a solitary point, 49-48, to enter the break.
With the starters not gaining any momentum in the second half, Rain or Shine relied on their deep bench to close out the game. Mahindra, though, held a six point lead, 91-85, with 5:04 left in the game. In a quick turnaround, a triple by Jeff Chan and a basket by Jericho Cruz cut the deficit to just a single point with 4:21 remaining.
Another three-pointer by Chan with 2:29 left gave the Elasto Painters a 96-95 lead. Two timely conversions by Cruz extended the lead to three, while a jumper by Chan with 38 ticks left sealed the game for Rain or Shine, 103-98.
“This gives us the momentum especially with the 3 game winning streak,” Guiao shared about the “ugly” win. “I’m not happy with the way that we won but it’s still a win.”
“We will have to make adjustments and play better than this game to beat Talk ‘N Text.”
Jeff Chan, even with a black eye he received after an elbow in the second quarter, was able put up 18 points, with half coming from downtown. “Actually yung left side talaga blurred na pero kelangan tumira,” Chan said after the game. “Yung ibang teammates ko hindi naka-convert. Buti na lang kahit may blackeye naka-deliver pa rin.”
JR Quinahan added 19 points on a 70% shooting clip. Reinforcement Mo Charlo almost notched a triple-double with 16 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, but was just 3/12 from the field. “I think in this game, he just overpassed,” Guiao said about Charlo. “We need to talk to him and give him a better perspective of what he needs to do in the games to come.”
For the Enforcers, Augustus Gilchrist scored a game-high 28 points in 40 minutes of action. He was able to grab 11 boards as well before fouling out. LA Revilla added 20 points on 7/12 shooting.
As a team, the Elasto Painters displayed great familiarity, assisting on 23 of their 36 made field goals. In addition, they were able to out-rebound the Enforcers 52-46, and scored 18 second chance points.
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-3) will next face Tropang TNT on Monday, March 21 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. On the other hand, the Mahindra Enforcers (3-4) look to keep their top 4 hopes alive as they face the Alaska Aces in the first game of that day.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine (103) – Quinahan 19, Chan 18, Cruz 18, Charlo 16, Almazan 7, Norwood 5, Pnferada 5, Teng 4, Ahanmisi 3, Belga 2, Ibanes 2, Lee 2, Trollano 2.
Mahindra (98) – Gilchrist 28, Revilla 20, Canaleta 11, Yee 10, Dehesa 9, Jaime 8, Digreorio 5, Ramos 5, Guinto 2, Pascual 0, Pinto 0, Elorde 0.
Quarterscores: 24-16, 49-48, 70-70, 103-98.
