RAIN or Shine steadied the ship just in time as it took a 106-91 win over Terrafirma to keep in step with the pacesetters of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The Elasto Painters blew a 17-point third quarter lead after giving up a 20-2 run to the Dyip, allowing Terrafirma to even take a 75-72 lead before Santi Santillan drained a three-pointer to close out the quarter and enter the payoff period tied at 75.
But that three-pointer from Santillan would serve as a precursor to his huge fourth quarter as the forward fired 16 points in the fourth period, allowing the Elasto Painters to retake control of the game and join TNT and NLEX atop the standings with a 4-1 record.
READ Jerrick Ahanmisi keeps spirits up as losses pile up for Dyip
“It wasn’t as easy as [the score] looked. Parang mas malapit yung score, pakiramdam namin nandun lang sila. Nag-struggle kami with the zone and it’s a good thing that the three-point shots fell at the right time. Mga three-pointer ni Santi malaking bagay,” Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said.
“Nag-put up sila ng run, mabuti nalang nagmintis ng huli si (Jerrick) Ahanmisi. He was really a handful for us. Si (Paolo) Hernandez maganda rin ang nilalaro. We cannot contain them on a one-on-one basis, iso situation, nag-experiement kami sa depensa nung huli.”
It looked like Rain or Shine was headed to a blowout win after creating some separation in the second quarter, before padding that lead up to 17 points, 66-49, after two free throws from Gabe Norwood with 6:59 to go in the third.
But Ahanmisi conspired with Hernandez and Brent Paraiso in that fiery comeback for the Dyip as they momentarily took the league before Santillan caught fire.
Santillan finished with 26 points on 6-of-10 shooting from downtown which he padded with seven boards and two steals. Keith Datu added 12 points and six rebounds while Felix Pangilinan-Lemetti and Jhonard Clarito contributed 11 apiece for the Elasto Painters.
Ahanmisi finished with 25 points and five rebounds, Hernandez added 20 while rookie JM Bravo finished with 17 points and 15 boards but that wasn’t enough for the Dyip as they dropped their third straight game to fall to 1-4.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 106 – Santillan 26, Datu 12, Clarito 11, Pangilinan-Lemetti 11, Nocum 10, Norwrood 9, Asistio 8, Malonzo 6, Belga 5, Caracut 4, Mamuyac 4, Porter 0, Ildefonso 0
Terrafirma 91 – Ahanmisi 25, Hernandez 20, Bravo 17, Paraiso 9, Sangalang 8, Rivero 5, Zaldivar 4, Hanapi 2, Catapusan 1, Garcia 0, Mariano 0, Olivario 0
Quarters: 26-25, 54-39, 75-75, 106-91
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