ANTIPOLO CITY — Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters survived a second quarter storm from San Miguel Beermen and took a hard-fought 123-119 win in the main game of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup twin bill at the Ynares Center here on Sunday night.
Behind a stellar performance from Raymond Almazan in the extra period, the Elasto Painters kept the Beermen winless in the mid-season conference despite a 40-point second quarter blast.
Following the said explosion, SMB opened a 63-49 lead over ROS at halftime, but Troy Gillenwater’s send-off just before the half turned to be costly for the defending champion.
Raymond Almazan and Chris Tiu waxed hot in the third quarter as the E-Painters cut the lead down to six, 90-84, entering the fourth.
Their rally continued in the payoff period and eventually took a 112-110 lead with 18 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, Alex Cabagnot converted on a quick layup with 11.8 seconds left in regulation to knot things up at 112-all. Chris Ross actually had a chance to win it for the Beermen in regulation only that his three-point shot only hit the iron.
Gabe Norwood drew first blood for ROS in the extra session with a three-pointer before Almazan made the team’s last eight points to hold off SMB, which already had Junemar Fajardo and Arwind Santos fouling out.
Reggie Johnson made 27 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, while Almazan collected 25 points, 14 rebounds, one assist, and one block for the E-Painters, who reclaimed the top spot in the team standings at 4-1.
Santos made 29 markers, nine boards, four dimes, one steal, and five rejections for the Beermen, who lost for the second straight time.
Junemar Fajardo (26 points and 11 rebounds) and Chris Standhardinger (17 points and 15 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles as they had to exert extra effort inside with Gillenwater’s departure.
Alex Cabagnot came close to a triple-double with 14 markers, 13 caroms, and nine dimes with two steals.
The Scores:
Rain Or Shine 123 — Johnson 27, Almazan 25, Tiu 16, Ahanmisi 16, Norwood 15, Daquioag 7, Washington 5, Torres 5, Ponferada 4, Yap 3, Belga 0, Onwubere 0
San Miguel 119 — Santos 29, Fajardo 26, Lassiter 18, Standhardinger 17, Cabagnot 16, Gillenwater 11, Ross 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Espinas 0
Quarterscores: 30-23, 49-63, 84-90, 112-112, 123-119 (Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA)
