RAIN or Shine overcame a tough stance put up by NLEX to score a 123-114 overtime victory Tuesday and secure a quarterfinals spot in the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Frolicking in his first start of the young season, Anton Asistio finished with 25 points while hooking up with Adrian Nocum and Aaron Fuller the most in the extension to lead the Elasto Painters to a 6-2 record and a tie with Group B leader San Miguel Beer.
Rain or Shine still has a chance to grab solo top spot in the group if it wins its last two elimination round games starting with the match against SMB Thursday.
"We'll see if we can play for the No. 1 spot in our group. I think we have a chance at that. We'll keep trying," said E-Painters coach Yeng Guiao, before pointing out that hurdling NLEX first was their top priority.
"To us the most important thing tonight, sabi ko sa kanila, ang gusto lang natin maka-six wins tayo kasi pasok tayo sa quarterfinals maka-six wins lang tayo," related Guiao.
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"Just win the game... ang importante lang manalo tayo para maka-look forward tayo sa playoffs."
Headed by new import DeQuan Jones and Robert Bolick, the Road Warriors did everything they could to foil their opponents' bid, even leading by 68-59 at one point before taking a 110-108 edge going to the last 20 seconds of regulation.
Jhonard Clarito, however, garnered an offensive rebound before connecting on a reverse to tie the game up before OT was forged when Bolick missed a fallaway jumper.
Nocum then took over in the extension where he scattered seven of his 11 points with Asistio sealing the deal with three charities off a Bolick foul that pegged a 123-114 count that stood inside the final 39 seconds.
Fuller also left his indelible mark on the win with 23 points and a gamehigh 25 rebounds while also chipping in were Clarito (15 and 6), Felix Lemetti (14 and 4) and Caelan Tiongson (11 and 3).
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Jones had a very impressive debut with 49 points, anchored on 3-of-6 shooting from four points and 2-of-4 from 3, on top of 11 rebounds, while Bolick fell just short of a triple double with 28 points, 11 boards and nine assists as NLEX fell to 3-5..
"Hindi ko alam how we survived 'yung import nila, he played a monster game. Medyo napagod lang siguro nu'ng bandang huli. Si Bolick was also a headache for us," admitted Guiao.
"What we tried to do was just to hang in there. Sabi ko, dikit lang tayo," added Guiao. "At some point they'll tire out, maybe miss some shots. That's gonna be our opportunity to get our own run, which actually happened."(NC)
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 123 - Asistio 25, Fuller 23, Clarito 15, Lemetti 14, Tiongson 11, Nocum 11, Santillan 7, Datu 7, Mamuyac 5, Ildefonso 3, Belga 2, Caracut 0.
NLEX 114 - Jones 49, Bolick 28, Mocon 9, Herndon 9, Valdez 8, Miranda 6, Amer 3, Marcelo 2, Rodger 0, Semerad 0, Fajardo 0.
QUARTERS: 34-33, 56-61, 89-83, 110-110, 123-114 (OT)
