Chism struggles but Rain or Shine survives Air21

Wayne Chism of Rain or Shine (dark) vs Wesley Witherspoon of Air21 (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine bucked a horrible shooting night from its import Wayne Chism as it escaped Air21, 87-82, in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Jervy Cruz had 13 points on six-of-six shooting from the field in just 16 minutes – picking up the slack with Chism finishing only with six points on a woeful two-of-12 from the floor.

“This is a big win for us trying to get ourselves out of seventh and eighth place and this gives us a really good chance to do that,” ROS Yeng Guiao told reporters. “Our import really struggled offensively but his defensive presence was enough to lift us this game.”

“The locals also kept is on the game for the most part offensively. The locals provided the offense. Really a testimony to the fact that you can still win games in defense even if you struggle offensively,” Guiao added.

Chism did have nine rebounds and four blocks but he nearly cost the Elasto Painters the game with late turnover for the second straight outing after throwing a pass that ended up at the hands of Express playmaker Eliud Poligrates for an easy layup that cut the Painters’ lead down to two, 82-80, with 24.9 seconds left.

Paul Lee chipped in 12 points for Rain or Shine, which joined Meralco in fifth place with a 4-4 slate.

Lee made two free throws that got the Painters’ advantage back to four, 84-80, with 23.8 ticks left before Chism atoned for his previous miscue with a steal that led to a free throw by Gabe Norwood for an 85-80 cushion with 21.9 seconds to go.

Despite Chism’s struggles, Guiao said he intends to stick with him.

“It’s enough to get us where we are. We don’t see that in practice. He’s not this way and that gives us a lot of hope,” Guiao said of his import.

“He’s a defensive minded player. Our only requirement of him is he’s able to rebound, give us his defensive presence in the middle and score a few points here and there. I think he can do that,” Guiao added.

Chism committed costly mistakes in the Painters’ loss to the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in their previous outing.

Wesley Witherspoon scored a game-high 23 points to go along with 16 rebounds for the Express, who fell into a tie with idle Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in seventh.

Ageless center Asi Taulava added 15 points and 12 rebounds, nine coming at the offensive end.

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