ONE can learn from a bitter experience.
Columbian just stressed the ages-old mantra by pulling off a 104-96 win over erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
John Fields exploded for 34 points on top of 11 rebounds and five assists while Rashawn McCarthy added 23 points in leading the Dyip, who notched their lone victory in the Philippine Cup against the Elasto Painters.
Jerramy King chipped in 13 points and Roider Cabrera came up big in the clutch as Columbian Dyip improved to a 3-2 record overall.
More important for coach Ricky Dandan was the character his charges showed in bouncing back from a 103-134 humiliation from Alaska last Friday while dealing Rain or Shine its first loss in four games.
Sponsored content: "We talked about that at length," related Dandan. "Alaska took us to school and we learned. This is the result."
Reggie Johnson notched 30 points and 17 rebounds with Raymond Almazan also finishing with a double-double of 16 and 14.
Ed Daquioag came off the bench to score 17 points, but the likes of Beau Belga and Maverick Ahanmisi played way below par in a game the E-Painters needed to win to break out of their erstwhile leadership tie with idle TNT.
Belga missed his first eight shots from the field and wound up with just seven points, just four better than Ahanmisi's output.
Johnson tried to pick up the slack by scoring seven of his points in the decisive final frame, but the Dyip's more balanced attack and extra spring in hustle plays enabled them to come out on top of a 22-16 exchange.
Sponsored content: McCarthy actually boomed in three of his six triples in the fourth period, but it was Cabrera who lent a big hand in Columbian's final break from a 97-94 count.
The forward inserted into the game only late in the third quarter and fielded back in the final 5:57 scored three points and hauled down two defensive rebounds to make it a safe 102-94 count, only 30 ticks left.
Cabrera's efforts, which included taking on 6-foot-8, 319-lb Johnson, did not escape Dandan's notice.
"Everybody knows we have a short frontline with (Andreas) Cahilig, (Eric) Camson and (Jackson) Corpuz and even Roider," offered Dandan. "But they were all ready. We have no way of matching up with Johnson and they all did a great job trying to contain Johnson."
In all, Johnson did commit six of Rain or Shine's 21 turnovers and the E-Painters also missed 16 of their 35 free throw attempts, helping Columbian race to as much as a 58-47 in the second quarter.
Behind Daquioag's nine third quarter points Rain or Shine managed to catch up and even overtake Columbian, but the Dyip hung tough, more so after Almazan's putback pegged the game's last deadlock at 82-all, early in the fourth. (NC)
The scores:
COLUMBIAN 104 - Fields 34, McCarthy 23, King 13, Cahilig 8, Lastimosa 7, Celda 7, Tubid 4, Cabrera 3, Sara 2, Corpuz 2, Camson 1, Escoto 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 96 - Johnson 30, Daquioag 17, Almazan 16, Tiu 9, Belga 7, Norwood 6, Yap 4, Ahanmisi 3, Torres 3, Nambatac 1, Washington 0.
Quarterscores: 31-28, 58-53, 82-80, 104-96.
