By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine overcame the absence of coaches Yeng Guiao and Caloy Garcia and a late NorthPort rally to get back on the winning track with a 118-112 victory in the PBA on Tour at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday, July 19.
The Elasto Painters built a commanding lead against the Batang Pier in the second half but still had to lean on the timely hits from Anton Asistio to keep NorthPort at bay.
Rain or Shine looked like it was about to safely cruise to the victory after building a 19 point lead, 96-77, early in the final frame but NorthPort, behind the efforts of Fran Yu and JM Calma, brought the lead down to single digits, 99-91.
Asistio though nailed three straight triples for Rain or Shine to keep some breathing space, 110-95, which proved to be enough to weather another NorthPort surge spearheaded by Arvin Tolentino.
Asistio poured nine of his 17 points in the payoff period while also firing a 5-of-7 clip from deep. Leonard Santillan put up an all-game brilliance with 20 points built on four triples while Andrei Caracut also added 17.
Shaun Ildefonso and Gian Mamuyac also had their share of spotlight, finishing with 14 and 12, respectively, as the Elasto Painters successfully bounced back from a tough 103-88 loss at the hands of league-leading Magnolia last time out.
Rain or Shine, under the calls of assistant coach Mike Buendia in place of Guiao who is on a vacation and Garcia who is with La Salle, improved to a 7-2 record good for the second spot in the standings.
Meantime, TNT finally ended a seven-game dry spell in the PBA on Tour, squeezing through with a 96-88 victory over Phoenix behind a clutch performance of Almond Vosotros.
The sharpshooting point guard, who made a name for himself in the 3×3 circuit with the TNT Triple Giga and in the Gilas Pilipinas, displayed the clutch genes he usually showcases in the half-court game by firing 10 of the Tropang Giga’ last 13 points.
Vosotros caught fire after a series of shots that pulled them away for good —first a follow up on a Carl Bryan Cruz triple with a pair of free throws, a tough step back three-pointer and a fastbreak layup to seal the deal for TNT which finally picked up its first win for a 1-7 record in the standings.
Vosotros wound up with 16 points on four triples while the exhibition tiff’s leading scorer in Glenn Khobuntin remained a picture of consistency with 21 points and seven rebounds.
TNT also got ample support from Cruz who finished with 15 points and Kib Montalbo who chipped in 13.
