Rain or Shine squeaks past Barako Bull
Arizona Reid of Rain or Shine (light) vs Dave Marcelo of Barako (dark). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao knew Barako Bull won’t be pushed around despite having lost three straight games coming in Saturday.
And Guiao was right on cue after the Elasto Painters had to squeeze their way out of harm’s way to win, 96-93, over the Energy in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Article continues after this advertisement“Barako Bull has been really tough. I think they are 1-4 right now but their record doesn’t really show how good this team is,” Guiao told reporters.
“They’ve been giving teams a hard time. The last time they played, I think they stretched San Miguel to overtime and they almost did that to us this game.”
Barako Bull, which came off a sorry 112-115 loss to San Miguel Beer in overtime last Wednesday in Biñan, Laguna, nearly forged extra time anew as Willie Miller potential game-tying 3-pointer over the defense of Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood just missed the mark as time expired.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Painters needed to rally down the stretch despite building a 10-point lead in the third quarter. Former Best Import Arizona Reid hit the go-ahead jumper that capped a 7-0 run for a 92-90 Rain or Shine lead with 1:43 remaining.
Reid did it all as he posted team-highs 34 points, 13 rebounds and five assists while Jeff Chan scored 15 points, four coming in the final 1:11 of the game.
Eric Wise also had an all-around game with 41 points, 19 rebounds and six assists in a losing effort. Wise’s scoring output was the second highest this conference next to San Miguel Beer import Reggie Williams’ 42 points in an 87-94 loss to Alaska.
Barako Bull held a 90-85 edge with five minutes remaining before a costly turnover, defensive mixups and broken offensive sets allowed Rain or Shine to creep back in.
The Energy had a chance to regain the lead but JC Intal rushed his shot and missed a bunny with the Painters clinging on to a 94-93 lead with under 30 seconds left before Paul Lee found a wide open Chan near the basket that made it 96-93 with 13.8 seconds remaining.
“We just probably had a little more experience at finishing the game as a team and that experience was put to good use. That’s the only difference,” said Guiao, whose team improved to 2-3. “But otherwise they were there all the way and they gave themselves a really good chance to win.”
“Right now we just want to get to the 50% mark winning percentage but now we’re still struggling. We haven’t really gotten our peak performance so pahirapan talaga every game,” added Guiao.
Rookie Jeric Fortuna, who has been getting playing time under new coach Siot Tanquingcen, added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Energy. He did however, committed a costly error approaching the final minute that allowed the Elasto Painters to grab a 94-90 edge.
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