By REYNALD MAGALLON
The young guns showed poise under pressure as Anton Asistio and Leonard Santillan delivered in crunchtime to lift Rain or Shine past a hard-fighting TNT, 106-100, in the PBA on Tour at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday, July 12.
Asistio had two crucial baskets inside the final two minutes – a gutsy drive in traffic and a cold-blooded elbow jumper – which gave the Elasto Painters the lead for good before Santillan put on the finishing touches with the dagger triple with 37 seconds left.
Asistio finished with 16 points while Santillan chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds. Their heroics, though, wouldn’t happen if not for the solid performance from Gian Mamuyac who led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds – including the two crucial free throws that tied the game at 98-all with 1:50 left in the game.
The two foul shots proved to be pivotal for Rain or Shine’s cause as it triggered the telling 8-2 finishing kick to pick up their sixth win through seven games.
Meantime, not even a momentary stoppage of the game due to the heavy downpour that caused roof leaks inside the arena could cool down the hot hands of Alvin Pasaol who led Meralco to a 96-83 victory over NLEX in the first game.
Pasaol made it rain from deep, draining seven triples as he punished the Road Warriors who, for the most part of the contest, dared the Bolts to live and die from the three-point territory with their zone defense.
The former University of the East standout fired 16 of his 25 points in the final frame to anchor the Bolts’ second half pullaway that saw them lean on a pivotal 12-2 run bridging the last two quarters to establish a double-digit spread.
Pasaol was even hardly bothered by a long lull midway through the fourth quarter when the game was stopped for a couple of minutes due to a leak in the ceiling of the arena caused by the heavy rains.
Upon the resumption of the contest, Pasaol immediately buried two triples that established Meralco’s biggest lead at 16, 93-77.
