By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine took some serious blows in the series opener, but made sure to strike back in Game 2.
Jhonard Clarito delivered the biggest shots and put up a near-perfect performance to tow the Elasto Painters to a 121-113 victory over the Tropang Giga to force a rubber match on Sunday, May 12, at the historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Just when he looked to be cooling down after a scintillating first three quarters when he hardly missed from any part of the field, Clarito made a booming triple with 1:58 left, triggering a 12-2 finishing kick that put the high scoring game away.
The Elasto Painters tied the best-of-three affair at 1-1, forcing the do-or-die contest to be set either on Wednesday or Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium depending on the result of the second game between NLEX and Meralco.
Clarito, who made his first nine shots from the field, exploded for a career-high 29 points including a perfect 5-of-5 clip from the field. He also added seven rebounds – none bigger than the huge offensive board with 39 seconds left that virtually sealed the deal.
Three other Elasto Painters breached the 20-point mark with Andrei Caracut firing away 21 points, including five straight that capped the telling run in the waning minutes.
Rookie Adrian Nocum also provided clutch hits down the stretch to finish with 20 points while Santi Santillan also had 20 to go along with his seven rebounds. Gian Mamuyac was the other double-digit scorer for ROS with 12.
It was a high-scoring affair in the first three quarters with the two teams seeing themselves in a 95-all deadlock heading into the payoff period.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair from there as both teams focused more on defense in the final frame before Kelly Williams put TNT ahead, 111-109, with thunderous put back dunk with 2:38 left.
A quick answer from Santillan off a post move, a Clarito trey and a drive from Nocum restored order before Caracut delivered the dagger with another booming triple.
RR Pogoy paced TNT with 28 points while Jayson Castro put up a vintage showing for 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Glenn Khobuntin and Kim Aurin had 15 and 13 respectively but the Tropang Giga severely missed the services of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser who went down with a knee injury in the first frame
Calvin Oftana, after exploding for 32 in Game 1, was not in his usual self, finishing with a measly 11 points.
