Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine (light) vs Noy Baclao of Globalport (dark). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine bucked woeful shooting at the free throw line to slip past Globalport, 86-83, in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jeff Chan came alive in the fourth quarter — scoring 11 of his 16 points in that period alone — for the Elasto Painters, who upped their mark to 4-2 and grab a share with the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in fourth place.
But Chan had his fair share of misses at the free throw line that allowed the Batang Pier to get back into the game and even take a 70-63 lead entering the final frame after trailing by as much as 13 to start the second half.
“We made it hard for ourselves by missing those important free throws,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao. “Jeff uncharacteristically missed his free throws, Beau missed a lot of free throws also in the end game.”
The Painters muffed 10 out of their 17 free throw attempts in the second half after going 12-of-14 in the first two quarters. In the fourth quarter alone, they missed six freebies, four of which were from Beau Belga.
“And I thought that Global pushed us all the way to the end game. We had a 13-point lead at halftime but they erased that quickly.”
Luckily for the Painters, they were able to make stops at the defensive end in the final minute.
Alex Cabagnot led all scorers with 20 points but missed on a runner that would’ve given Globalport the lead and a potential game-tying 3-pointer. On both occasions, the taller Gabe Norwood was on him to contest.
“This team is rising in the league and they’re giving the veteran teams a hard time,” Guiao said of Globalport, which slid to 3-3.
Belga added 12 points, including an undergoal stab off a zip pass from Chan, that made it, 84-80, with 2:43 left.
Lee chipped in 11 points. He also sank two free throws that gave ROS a three-point cushion with 4.8 ticks remaining.
Rookie Stanley Pringle collected 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists but also committed five turnovers as the rugged Rain or Shine defense clamped on the top overall pick.
“We’re a little concerned about free throws and rebounding in our past games we’re hoping we can fix that in practice.”
“The big shots in this game were the free throws and had we made them we could’ve easily made our lives a little easier,” Guiao added.
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