RAIN or Shine stayed perfect in three games in PBA on Tour, but not without a scare as the Elasto Painters nearly blew a 24-point lead against San Miguel Beer.
Going without a basket, Gabe Norwood made a big contribution with a crucial block on Terrence Romeo in the closing seconds as the Elasto Painters salvaged a 100-98 win Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Offensively, Jhonard Clarito had a rare big night with a 17-point explosion, leading the E-Painters to a third win after earlier triumphs over NLEX (117-93) and Phoenix Super LPG (113-104).
Clarito, an unheralded forward from De Ocampo Memorial College, had a total of 13 points in their first two games presented by Arena Plus and sponsored by Bingo Plus.
For his big night, Clarito drew pours of liquids from his teammates shortly before a TV interview as Best Player of the Game.
Sponsored content:
"In-encourage ako ng mga teammates ko at naroon din ang tiwala ng mga coaches ko, kaya nakakuha ng rhythm," said Clarito, who had an impressive 8-of-11 field clip going with three assists, two steals and one rebound in 25 minutes of action.
Gian Mamuyac scored 14 points, Leo Santillan fired 12 while Jewel Ponferrada had 11 in a balanced Rain or Shine attack also marked by at least eight points each from Anton Asistio, Shawn Ildefonso and Nick Demusis.
A big advantage in bench scoring and fastbreak had the Elasto Painters dominating the game with a lead as big as 24, before getting a little careless allowing the Beermen to get back into the game in the closing seconds.
An 8-0 run capped by a trey from Allyn Bulanadi pushed the Beermen to within two at 98-100 with over 30 seconds left to play.
Then they had a chance to tie or even grab the lead after getting possession following a missed attempt from Rey Nambatac with 14.6 ticks to go.
Sponsored content:
But doing the best that he does, Norwood saved the night for Rain or Shine with his defensive gem on Romeo.
Going down the drain was Romeo's 25-point effort along with Bulanadi's 31-point explosion laced with five three-pointers.
It was San Miguel's first defeat in its last three outings and second in four games in all.(SB)
