PBA: Rookies contribute as ROS shakes off Barako Bull

Paul Lee of Rain or Shine (light) vs Mick Pennisi of Barako Bull (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Paul Lee threw a lob pass to Gabe Norwood for the emphatic two-handed dunk off the inbound in the waning seconds with the game already decided.

But as easy as that play may have looked, Rain or Shine had to shake off a pesky Barako Bull squad for a 91-83 win Sunday night in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“They gave us a hard time. Their three-point shooting is really a problem. I thought that we had prepared enough for their three point shot but they were still there,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao after his team racked up its third win against one loss while also handing Barako Bull its first setback of the season after going off to a 2-0 start.

“We survived a great game by Willie Miller and we just considered it as a learning experience especially for our rookies. They needed to guard a talent like Willie so they can get the experience and lessons from what somebody like Willie can give,” added Guiao, who gave rookies Raymond Almazan, Jeric Teng and Alex Nuyles significant amount of playing time.

Teng produced so far with 10 points, hitting two triples, Almazan flirted with a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds. Nuyles didn’t score missing four attempts from the field but still gave the Elasto Painters a quality 13 minutes of play.

Willie Miller led the Energy with 23 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the two-point area while taking advantage of newcomers Teng and Nuyles with his ball wizardry at the offensive end.

“We like the win because it gets us back to our objective to try to make at least the semis. We beat a team that has not beaten yet,” added Guiao.

And Barako Bull, which made 10 threes, showed why it has been successful so far as it stayed within striking distance and was just down by four, 83-87, after a triple by JC Intal with still 1:47 left.

The Energy though couldn’t complete their comeback as they misfired on their last several attempts as the Painters held on.

Lee scattered 10 points, four assists and four steals and part of his dish was the alleyoop pass to Norwood that set the final tally with 7.1 ticks left.