By REYNALD MAGALLON
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Rain or Shine suffered yet another fourth quarter collapse, bowing to Qatar, 93-86 in 2023 William Jones Cup at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Defensive lapses and lousy fouls in the final five minutes of the contest killed the momentum for the Elasto Painters who seemed to have finally found their groove offensively in the first three quarters before allowing the Qataris to create the much-needed separation in the final frame.
Naturalized player Michael Lewis and forward Nedim Muslic led the fourth quarter assault for Qatar, combining for 15 of their team’s 24 points to keep the Filipinos winless through four games.
Lewis led Qatar with 19 points while big man Ndoye Seydou, who towed his team back in the third frame where ROS ledy by as many as six, added 18.
Muslic chipped in 12 for Qatar which gained the upper hand in the game following a brief altercation between their big man, Haracic Meho, and Rain or Shine’s Nick Demusis at 7:25 mark of the final frame and with the score tied at 73-all.
The loss wasted Nick Evans’ best performance in ROS uniform, topscoring the team with 20 points.
However, just like in the last game, he vanished when he was needed the most, only scoring four points in the second half.
Anton Asistio chipped in 16 points while Santi Santillan had 10 as the Elasto Painters try to pick up its first win against Iran on Wednesday, Aug. 16
