By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters leaned on a strong finishing run to beat NLEX Road Warriors, 110-100, to clinch the eighth and the last 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals seat on Sunday night, December 4, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
After seeing their lead turned to an 87-all score, the Painters got inside conversions from Gian Mamuyac, Ryan Pearson and Rey Nambatac and a triple from Andrei Caracut for a 96-87 lead.
The Road Warriors attempted to come close at 89-96 on a jumper by Bacolodnon Justin Chua, but baskets from Caracut, Nambatac and Leonard Santillan increased the Painters’ lead further to 110-95 with over a minute left.
Pearson finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists as the Painters bagged the eighth and last quarterfinals seat and will have a twice-to-win disadvantage over top-seed Bay Area Dragons.
Caracut, Mamuyac, Mike Nieto, and Santillan chipped in 19, 15, 12, and 11 markers, respectively, while Nambatac and Mark Borboran each contributed 10 markers for Rain or Shine.
Painters head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao said that, while entering the playoffs was a huge achievement for the youth-laden Rain or Shine, pulling off an upset against the Bay Area would be a tough task.
“We consider this an achievement kasi ‘yung tatlong MVP teams (Road Warriors, Meralco Bolts and TNT Tropang Giga) hindi nakapasok sa playoffs but mahirap na kalaban ang Bay Area,” Guiao said.
“Parang kahit anong preparasyon doon mahirap silang talunin. Lahat ng advantage nasa kanila na, advantage sa import, advantage sa height and advantage sa bonding. So parang walang game plan para matalo sila especially maliliit kami,” he added.
Earl Clark led the way with 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, while Celedonio Trollano, Kevin Alas and Chua had 15, 13 and 12 markers, respectively, for the Road Warriors.
It was also the first time for all the three squads under the Manny V. Pangilinan umbrella — namely the Tropang Giga, the Bolts and the Road Warriors — to not reach the round-of-eight.
RAIN OR SHINE 110 — Pearson 24, Caracut 19, Mamuyac 15, Nieto 12, Santillan 11, Borboran 10, Nambatac 10, Asistio 5, Norwood 3, Ponferrada 1, Ildefonso 0, Torres 0.
NLEX 100 — Clark 37, Trollano 15, Alas 13, Chua 12, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Nieto 6, Rosales 3, Miranda 3, Varilla 2.
Quarterscores: 31-27, 51-43, 80-75, 110-100./ASC, WDJ