Rain or Shine continued its resurgence and bolstered its quarterfinal drive in the PBA Commissioner's Cup with a 116-105 drubbing of Terrafirma Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Fresh from a morale-boosting 113-110 upset of erstwhile unbeaten Magnolia in Cagayan de Oro, the Elasto Painters turned in another winning performance against the Dyip to pick up their fourth straight win after a horrible 0-5 start.
The 11-point verdict strengthened ROS' hold of eighth spot at 4-5, putting itself a full game ahead of closest rival NLEX (3-6).
The Dyip reeled to their sixth defeat in a row for 2-7 overall as they failed to force a three-way tie at No. 8 with ROS and NLEX.
Coach Yeng Guiao's locals led by Beau Belga (18), best player of the game Jhonard Clarito (career-high 16), Leonard Santillan (16) and Andre Caracut (13) made significant contributions as import Tree Treadwell was solid with 16 markers and 19 rebounds.
Sponsored content:
"It's been a good combination of locals and our imports. Our chemistry is getting better every game and maganda iyung sa lahat ng panalo namin, iba-iba ang naging best player so na-spread out iyung contribution," said Guiao.
ROS goes into the Christmas and New Year break on a high and carrying momentum when it returns to action against TNT and Converge in January to try and wrap up a quarterfinal ticket.
"Usapan namin gusto namin sa Pasko galing kami sa panalo. This is our last game of the year so masarap mag Noche Buena and Media Noche na galing sa panalo. Saka gusto namin ma-preserve iyung gains namin sa three straight wins and this could be our fourth," said Guiao, whose squad used a 22-15 blast in the final 10 minutes to break away.
"We expected a hard game. Hindi naman basta-basta tatalunin ang Terrafirma because they're also fighting for survival. Pag nanalo sila, magtatabla-tabla kami sa eighth place (along with NLEX). So we knew they'll play their hardest," he added.
Thomas De Thaey scored 31 - a PBA high - in a losing cause for Terrafirma. (OL)
Sponsored content:
The scores:
First Game
Rain or Shine 116 - Belga 18, Clarito 16, Santillan 16, Treadwell 16, Caracut 13, Datu 12, Belo 7, Ildefonso 6, Nocum 5, Asistio 3, Mamuyac 2, Nambatac 2, Demusis 0, Norwood 0.
Terrafirma 105 - De Thaey 31, Tiongson 19, Alolino 16, Carino 15, Holt 8, Ramos 7, Go 5, Miller 2, Daquioag 2, Cahilig 0, Calvo 0, Camson 0, Gomez de Liano 0.
Quarterscores: 25-26, 58-51, 87-85, 116-105.
