RAIN or Shine avoided a late meltdown to keep its unbeaten start going, beating Converge, 120-111, on Friday in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Jaylen Johnson drained a three-point shot with 2:07 left to bring the lead back up to seven points at 114-107, pouring cold water on a late Converge fightback and helping Rain or Shine snatch its sixth win in as many games.
The Elasto Painters led by as many as 23 but saw their lead dwindle to two, 109-107, with 2:49 remaining, but stayed composed in the closing minutes to stretch their best start in franchise history.
READ: Fittingly, Rain or Shine's first retired jersey is Gabe Norwood's
The FiberXers continued their slump, falling to 1-5 after their fifth straight defeat even after the return of Juan Gomez de Liano from an injury layoff and the debut of Calvin Abueva in a Converge uniform.
Fittingly, Rain or Shine won on the night it retired the No. 5 jersey of Gabe Norwood.
“We wanted this win really for Gabe,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. “We didn’t want to disappoint him on his day of jersey retirement. Mas masaya si Gabe kapag maganda yung nilaro ng team.”
Johnson had a huge outing of 35 points and 21 rebounds. He also buried another three for good measure with 20.3 seconds, prompting a dance that he has become known for.
Gian Mamuyac had 21 points and Caelan Tiongson finished with 14 markers for the Elasto Painters.
Rain or Shine was already up, 100-77, on a three by Mike Malonzo early in the fourth when Converge made that bid to come back from a big deficit.
A lay-up by Gomez de Liano cut it to two, 109-107, to complete a 12-0 blast but it was still not enough.
Alec Stockton finished with 17 points, and Mikey Williams had 16 points and 10 assists for the FiberXers.
The scores:
Rain or Shine 120 - Johnson 35, Mamuyac 21, Tiongson 14, Caracut 12, Lemetti 10, Nocum 8, Malonzo 7, Clarito 5, David 3, Manaytay 2, Roque 2, Santillan 1, Villegas 0.
Converge 111 - Stockton 17, Williams 16, Kelley 16, Arana 16, Gomez de Liano 14, Policarpio 11, Baltazar 9, Garcia 5, Abueva 5, Muyang 2, Concepcion 0.
Quarters: 31-29; 61-54; 95-75: 120-111.
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