MONTALBAN – Rain or Shine rallied from the depth of a 16-point deficit to pull off a 96-95 overtime thriller against Meralco to win its PBA Philippine Cup Season 50 debut Saturday night at the Ynares Center.
Heroes were aplenty for the Elasto Painters, but Caelan Tiongson and Gabe Norwood stood out in the come-from-behind victory that saw the team battled back from as much as 81-65 down.
Tiongson had a game-high 23 points and buried a pressure-packed four-point shot in the final 17 seconds of regulation, while Norwood’s timely tip-in sent the game into overtime, 90-all.
The Elasto Painters then scored the first four points of the extra period to finally take control of the match.
"We feel we have a good team. We struggled and we almost lost the game," said coach Yeng Guiao in the post-game presser.
"But we found a way. I think that's character. You know you have a good team that despite everything not going in your way, you still found a way to win."
Come Rain, Come Shine
Tiongson also had 10 rebounds and scored 10 in the fourth quarter including the four that brought the Elasto Painters back to life.
Norwood, who just announced that this conference will be the last for his distinguished PBA career, finished with 11 together with Keith Datu.
It was a heartbreaker of a loss for the Bolts, who still led, 89-80, five minutes left in regulation.
Bong Quinto and sophomore CJ Cansino each had 18 for Meralco, which is O-2 to start its campaign for the first time since the Season 47 Commissioner's Cup.
The scores
Rain or Shine 96 -- Tiongson 23, Datu 11, Norwood 11, Caracut 10, Lemetti 9, Asistio 6, Mamuyac 5, Ildefonso 5, Malonzo 4, Clarito 2, Porter 0, Belga 0, Porter 0.
Meralco 95 -- Quinto 18, Cansino 18, Almazan 12, Newsome 12, Banchero 9, Bates 8, Black 6, Caram 5, Hodge 5, Maliksi 2, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 24-28; 50-44; 70-81; 90-90 (reg), 96-95.
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