RAIN or Shine moved closer to a finals berth in the 39th Kadayawan Invitational basketball tournament on Friday after beating Phoenix, 104-102, at the University of Southeastern Philippines gym in Davao City.
Import Aaron Fuller was a dominant force inside by scoring 21 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in the Elasto Painters' second straight that in the four-day meet that offers a cash prize of P200,000 to the champion.
The Elasto Painters go for a sweep of the elimination round and an outright berth in the finals as they tangle with the Converge FiberXers on Saturday.
Converge meanwhile, failed to make it two in a row as it fell ambushed to reigning UAAP men's basketball title holder De La Salle in the second game, 120-112.
EJ Gollena had 19 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long range, while Mike Philips added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Green Archers, who rallied back from an early double-digit deficit against the FiberXers, whose coach, Aldin Ayo, once steered the Taft-based school to the UAAP championship in 2016.
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Gilas Pilipinas stalwart Kevin Quiambao finished with 12 points for La Salle, which bounced back from a 106-105 heartbreaker against Rain or Shine in its opening game.
A 132-127 winner in overtime over Phoenix, Converge fell to an even 1-1 record in a tie with La Salle.
The Green Archers will face the winless Fuel Masters (0-2) on Saturday and hoping to get a win for a possible shot of clinching one of the finals berth at stake.
A La Salle loss and a Converge win however, will have the FiberXers advancing to Sunday's final against the Elasto Painters.(RG)
