ANDRE Caracut engineered a crucial fourth-quarter run by Rain or Shine that served as springboard to an all-important 90-84 win over Converge to seize the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Caracut scored five points in a 7-0 swing by the Elasto Painters that turned a 74-75 deficit into an 81-75 lead from which they never looked back.
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Rain or Shine is now on top of the standings with a 7-2 (win-loss) slate after a fitting follow-up to its 91-89 win over TNT in Cagayan De Oro three weeks ago.
Converge missed the services of injured Justin Arana as it fell to a 6-3 slate and fell to a three-way tie at No. 3 with NLEX and Magnolia, just behind second-running San Miguel (6-2).
The loss also saw the FiberXers' three-game winning run come to a halt on Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Montalban.
“We got a really big break with Arana’s injury, bumabaw yung rotation nila among their bigs,” admitted Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao later.
The 6-foot-7 Arana, who is the team’s second leading scorer, tweaked his right ankle late in the fourth quarter of the FiberXers’ 114-97 win over the Magnolia Hotshots last Friday.
He is averaging 16.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists this conference, numbers which Converge certainly missed on this night.
Leonard Santillan scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to pace Rain or Shine, which had a bad start after falling behind by as many as 22-8 in the first quarter.
But Gian Mamuyac and Caelan Tiongson came alive for the team in the second period and rallied the Elasto Painters for a 40-39 lead at the break.
Mamuyac finished with 15 points and buried the last of his two 3s with 2:35 remaining that kept Rain or Shine afloat, 90-81.
Caracut added 13, Tiongson with 10, and sophomore Mike Malonzo had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Rising star Juan Gomez De Liano paced Converge with 18 points, but was held to six in the first half. He also had nine rebounds and six assists.
Larry Muyang tried to fill in the void left by Arana with 18 points and nine rebounds. His final basket with eight minutes remaining gave Converge its final taste of the lead, 74-73, before fouling out a few minutes later on a driving Caracut.
The loss also spoiled the monster numbers of Justin Baltazar, who came away with 10 points and 21 rebounds.
The 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, Lemeti 0, Asistio 0, Pringle 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, Concepcion 0, Santos 0, Caralipio 0.
Quarterscores: 17-23; 40-39; 65-66; 90-84.
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