WITHOUT a Henry Walker to stoke its endgame drive, Blackwater proved to be easy picking for Chris Tiu and the rest of Rain or Shine Friday.
Tiu scored 14 of his 17 points in the fourth period in keying the Elasto Painters' 104-94 win over the Elite in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Raymond Almazan notched 26 points and 12 rebounds and Reggie Johnson was his usual dominant self inside with 17 and 20, but also favoring Rain or Shine was Walker riding the bench in the last three quarters due to an injured shoulder.
As a result, the E-Painters realized their seventh win in eight games to reclaim solo leadership and move closer to a top two finish and an automatic semi-finals berth at the end of the 11-game eliminations.
Their current standing surprises even coach Caloy Garcia.
Sponsored content: "Di namin ine-expect ito. Usually, nasa middle seats kami," admitted Garcia. "Siguro s'werte pa kami as of now, pero of course what we're trying to achieve is not only a good elimination but also the next round."
A large chunk of the credit should go to Tiu, who also wound up with 10 assists.
"Historically, doon sa seven wins namin I think four was all because of Chris Tiu," offered Garcia. "Kung kailan kailangan doon siya nakaka-shoot. It basically starts with him. He has become a very good leader for the team."
That was one thing Blackwater needed as it failed to follow up its breakthrough 86-84 shocker over Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok last Wednesday and thus fell to a 1-8 slate and out of contention for the eight quarterfinals slots.
Walker, whose dunk proved to be the game-winner over the Hotshots, actually came off the bench and scored just two points to go with three rebounds.
Sponsored content: The Elite's situation was further aggravated when JP Erram twisted his right ankle after stepping on Tiu's foot during an undergoal stab he made late in the second quarter.
He did return in the third period and had some nice plays, but was clearly not at 100 percent and finished with just 10 points and five boards.
Still, Blackwater grittily fought on with John Pinto scoring 10 of his 16 points in the third to lead a charge that netted the team as much as a 77-66 lead before going to the final canto with an 80-70 spread.
Maverick Ahanmisi completed a three-point play and Beau Belga boomed in a 3 in an early surge, but it was Tiu coming up with three of his five triples that broke Rain or Shine out of the last tie at 84 and into the lead for good 97-86.
"The nice thing about it is, we played good defense in the fourth and Chris started hitting his three-point shots," noted Garcia after his side held Blackwater to a 6-for-23 field shooting and harassed it into committing seven of its 16 turnovers in the fourth period.
Such an ending was a far cry from what was expected after Allein Maliksi, who finished with 23 points, scattered 15 right in the first quarter. The likes of Paul Zamar, Mac Belo and Walker even came in to help the Elite wrest the upper hand 28-25 and stretch it to 37-29.
But more spread out was the offense of Rain or Shine, starting with the inside plays of Almazan and Johnson that carried the E-Painters to a 52-47 halftime lead and a 58-47 bulge early in the third.(NC)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 104 - Almazan 26, Tiu 17, Johnson 17, Ahanmisi 17, Belga 6, Borboran 5, Norwood 5, Ponferada 4, Daquioag 3, Yap 2, Washington 2, Casi?o 0, Nambatac 0.
BLACKWATER 94 - Maliksi 23, Pinto 16, Erram 10, Zamar 9, Sumang 8, Jose 7, Sena 6, DiGregorio 4, Al-Hussaini 4, Cortez 3, Belo 2, Walker 2.
Quarterscores: 25-28, 52-47, 72-80, 104-94.
