Jay R. Gotera
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters scored a scintillating come-from-behind victory over the Alaska Aces, 111-105, Friday night in the PBA Philippine Cup.
With its seventh win in nine games, Rain or Shine ties Alaska at second to third place in the standing, behind the top-ranked defending champion San Miguel Beer (8-1).
It was a crucial victory that improved the Painters’ chances of grabbing one of two outright semifinals tickets. The win also snapped Alaska’s four-game winning streak.
Seven Rain or Shine players scored in double-digits led by Beau Belga who posted 17 points and eight rebounds.
Jericho Cruz and Raymund Almazan added 13 each while Jeff Chan, JR Quinahan and Don Trollano all had 12 apiece. Gabe Norwood joined the shooting party in the fourth quarter where he scored 8 of his 11 points total.
Vic Manuel led Alaska with 24 points and nine boards.
The Aces appeared to be heading to their fifth straight win in the third quarter when they erected a 14-point edge, 81-67. But the Painters exploded with a 14-0 run to tie the game at 81-all heading into the final quarter.
The two teams fought a down-the-wire battle in the fourth. The Painters then sparked an 8-0 blast to take a six-point lead, 104-98, which proved enough to quell an Alaska comeback.
Blackwater 116, Barako Bull 92
Carlo Lastimosa exploded for a career-high 38 points to power the Blackwater Elite to a 116-92 crushing of the Barako Bull Energy, Lastimosa’s former team.
Lastimosa, a nephew of PBA great Jojo Lastimosa of Alaska, was on fire from the get-go, and especially in the fourth quarter, against his former team. He shot an impressive 14-of-20 (70 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
He banged in 17 of his points in the final period to help repulse a spirited rally by Barako Bull.
Two other Blackwater players sparkled with rookie Art dela Cruz dishing out 21 points on 9-of-13 (69 percent) shooting and grabbing six rebounds. Bam Gamalinda finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards for Blackwater.
The victory — just the Elite’s second against in the conference — was enough to fire up Blackwater’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time. Barako Bull slid into a tie for seventh to eighth place with NLEX, both with a 4-5 card.
The Elite are now tied with the Mahindra Enforcers at 10th to 11th place, both with 2-7 win-loss card, with two games left for each team. With last placer Meralco (1-9) already out of the playoff picture, only one more team will get the boot after the elimination round.
Blackwater started hot, racing to a 26-12 lead. The Elite sustained their fire all throughout the match, repulsing every Barako Bull attempt at a comeback.
The closest the Energy could come was at 93-83, but Lastimosa quickly scored five straight points to restore a 15-point lead, 98-83.
Willy Wilson had another strong showing for Barako Bull, leading his team with 23 points. Josh Urbiztondo added 17 markers, 14 of them in the final frame.
Barako Bull sorely missed the services of RR Garcia who was sidelined after injuring his shoulder in his team’s last game.
Games Saturday: Mahindra Enforcers vs. GlobalPort Batang Pier and San Miguel Beermen vs. Talk N Text Tropang Texters.
