By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine continued to play with a sense of urgency and rolled to its third straight win by crushing Terrafirma, 97-82, to stay in hunt for the quarterfinals seat in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Saturday, July 16.
Playing without key players Gabe Norwood, Mike Nieto and Beau Belga due to health and safety protocols, the Elasto Painters bench, led by Leonard Santillan and Anton Asistio, stepped up big time and used a strong first half to create the sizeable margin it managed to protect gallantly until the final buzzer and improve to a 4-6 record.
The win boosted Rain or Shine’s playoff bid by tying Converge for No. 8 with similar 4-6 marks. That developed after Converge suffered an 89-66 defeat to Phoenix.
Asistio and Andrei Caracut conspired in the first half breakaway for the Elasto Painters and finished with 14 points each while Santillan held the fort in Belga’s absence with 13 points and eight rebounds. Shaun Ildefonso also provided solid contribution with 10 points.
“Today was a great game for our third team guys to get quality minutes and develop that next man-up mentality for us so we’re extremely happy with the position we’re in. We got one more, a really tough game against Magnolia come Wednesday and it’s do-or-die for us really,” said Rain or Shine head coach Chris Gavina.
Terrafirma started out flat in the game allowing Rain or Shine to race to an early 14-6 lead. Santillan and Asistio then went on a tear scoring 16 of the E-Painters 33 points against the Dyip’s 18 points in the opening frame.
ROS kept its foot on the gas pedal in the second frame building the biggest lead at 30, 54-24.
A masterful defensive performance in the first half set the tone for the romp as the Fuel Masters kept themselves in contention for a playoff spot after snapping a five-game slide and improving their record to a 3-6 slate.
Their fate however is not entirely on their hand anymore as they need to hope that no one among Converge, NorthPort and Rain or Shine breach the five-win mark to force a four-team deadlock at the eighth spot and pray that the quotient system would favor them.
The scores:
First Game
ROS 97 – Caracut 14, Asistio 14, Santillan 13, Ildefonso 10, Torres 9, Ponferrada 9, Demusis 8, Nambatac 7, Mamuyac 7,Clarito 3, Borboran 2, Tolentino 1.
TERRAFIRMA 82 – Ramos 21, Gabayni 12, Camson 11, Calvo 10, Munzon 9, Cahilig 7, Mina 7, Javelona 3, Balagasay 2, Gomez de Liano 0, Tumalip 0
Quarters: 33-18, 59-33, 78-63, 97-82.
Second Game
PHOENIX 89 – Wright 15, Perkins 14, Melecio 12, Tio 11, Muyang 10, Jazul 6, Anthony 5, Pascual 4, Rios 3, Porter 2, Mocon 2, Lalata 2, Serrano 2, Garcia 1
CONVERGE 66 – Tratter 9, Hill 9, Adamos 8, Browne 7, Arana 7, Murrell 6, Tolomia 5, Ilagan 4, Ambohot 4, Ahanmisi 3, Bulanadi 2, Stockton 2, Racal 0, DiGregorio 0.
Quarters: 18-11, 47-20, 70-45, 89-66.
Depleted ROS stays in hunt for playoffs with big win over Terrafirma
By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine continued to play with a sense of urgency and rolled to its third straight win by crushing Terrafirma, 97-82, to stay in hunt for the quarterfinals seat in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Saturday, July 16.
Playing without key players Gabe Norwood, Mike Nieto and Beau Belga due to health and safety protocols, the Elasto Painters bench, led by Leonard Santillan and Anton Asistio, stepped up big time and used a strong first half to create the sizeable margin it managed to protect gallantly until the final buzzer and improve to a 4-6 record.
The win boosted Rain or Shine’s playoff bid by tying Converge for No. 8 with similar 4-6 marks. That developed after Converge suffered an 89-66 defeat to Phoenix.
Asistio and Andrei Caracut conspired in the first half breakaway for the Elasto Painters and finished with 14 points each while Santillan held the fort in Belga’s absence with 13 points and eight rebounds. Shaun Ildefonso also provided solid contribution with 10 points.
“Today was a great game for our third team guys to get quality minutes and develop that next man-up mentality for us so we’re extremely happy with the position we’re in. We got one more, a really tough game against Magnolia come Wednesday and it’s do-or-die for us really,” said Rain or Shine head coach Chris Gavina.
Terrafirma started out flat in the game allowing Rain or Shine to race to an early 14-6 lead. Santillan and Asistio then went on a tear scoring 16 of the E-Painters 33 points against the Dyip’s 18 points in the opening frame.
ROS kept its foot on the gas pedal in the second frame building the biggest lead at 30, 54-24.
A masterful defensive performance in the first half set the tone for the romp as the Fuel Masters kept themselves in contention for a playoff spot after snapping a five-game slide and improving their record to a 3-6 slate.
Their fate however is not entirely on their hand anymore as they need to hope that no one among Converge, NorthPort and Rain or Shine breach the five-win mark to force a four-team deadlock at the eighth spot and pray that the quotient system would favor them.
The scores:
First Game
ROS 97 – Caracut 14, Asistio 14, Santillan 13, Ildefonso 10, Torres 9, Ponferrada 9, Demusis 8, Nambatac 7, Mamuyac 7,Clarito 3, Borboran 2, Tolentino 1.
TERRAFIRMA 82 – Ramos 21, Gabayni 12, Camson 11, Calvo 10, Munzon 9, Cahilig 7, Mina 7, Javelona 3, Balagasay 2, Gomez de Liano 0, Tumalip 0
Quarters: 33-18, 59-33, 78-63, 97-82.
Second Game
PHOENIX 89 – Wright 15, Perkins 14, Melecio 12, Tio 11, Muyang 10, Jazul 6, Anthony 5, Pascual 4, Rios 3, Porter 2, Mocon 2, Lalata 2, Serrano 2, Garcia 1
CONVERGE 66 – Tratter 9, Hill 9, Adamos 8, Browne 7, Arana 7, Murrell 6, Tolomia 5, Ilagan 4, Ambohot 4, Ahanmisi 3, Bulanadi 2, Stockton 2, Racal 0, DiGregorio 0.
Quarters: 18-11, 47-20, 70-45, 89-66.
