Rain or Shine put rising Converge in its place as it claimed the solo lead in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
When nothing was going its way as far as shooting is concerned, Rain or Shine tried to make up for it with effort.
That worked wonders as the Elasto Painters halted Converge, 90-84, for the solo lead in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup Sunday night, Dec. 7.
RoS improved to 7-2, shoving erstwhile co-leader FiberXers to joint third with Magnolia and NLEX as they slipped to 6-3.
Head coach Yeng Guiao could not be any more pleased.
“All I saw was the effort. It’s really pure effort on our side,” said Guiao.
“We’re shooting the ball badly. Our three-point shooting was really bad. We got a lot of open looks pero hindi namin maipasok. Our free throw shooting was really bad.”
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RoS pounces on absence of Justin Arana
Before catching a big break in the fourth period, the Elasto Painters shot a woeful 6-for-26 from the three-point area and made only 13-for-23 from the foul line.
But a nine-to-nothing rally early in the fourth period made the difference as it gave them an 83-75 lead.
Everything just clicked for Rain or Shine then, as they kept attacking Converge’s interior defense, which lacked injured Justin Arana.
Santi Santillan led that assault with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Gian Mamuyac posted 15 markers, six boards, three assists, a steal and a block, all while disrupting FiberXers super rookie Juan Gomez de Liaño for the most part.
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Andrei Caracut scored 13, and Mike Malonzo came up big with 10 points and the same number of rebounds.
“We needed to make up for it with our sheer effort lang talaga. Trabaho lang,” said Guiao.
Rain or Shine guards tried to make things tough for JGDL, but he still shone for Converge with 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block.
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Larry Muyang finished with a conference-high 18 points that went with nine rebounds, but he fouled out with still eight minutes left to play to compound the FiberXers' woes.
Alec Stockton had 11 points, while Justine Baltazar had a quiet offensive night of 10 markers but came up with 21 rebounds.
Rain or Shine vs. Converge Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 90 – Santillan 16, Mamuyac 15, Caracut 13, Malonzo 10, Tiongson 10, Nocum 9, Clarito 8, Manaytay 4, Norwood 3, Belga 2, Asistio 0, Pringle 0, Lemetti 0
CONVERGE 84 – Gomez de Liano 20, Muyang 18, Stockton 11, Baltazar 10, Racal 8, Garcia 6, Eguilos 5, Winston 3, Clemente 2, Javillonar 1, Santos 0, Concepion 0, Caralipio 0
Quarterscores: 17-23, 40-39, 65-66, 90-84
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.