Wayne Chism. PBA Images/Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine outplayed Barangay Ginebra San Miguel down the stretch to win, 82-79, in a heated game in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Import Wayne Chism scored the Elasto Painters last four points inside the final minute including two clutch free throws with 8.6 left. Chism finished with game-highs 28 points and 17 rebounds.
“It’s another one of those hard, rugged and exciting game with Ginebra,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao, whose team is assured another playoff appearance.
“We had a bad first half but the important thing in the second half was we’re more focused and we stepped up our energy level on defense,” added Guiao.
Rain or Shine, which roared back from 18 points down, improved to 6-3 and tied defending champion Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text in second place.
Painters big man Beau Belga preserved his team’s lead after blocking Mac Baracael’s last-second 3-pointer.
The Kings, who blew a double-digit lead and lost for the second straight game after dropping a 96-90 decision to the streaking NLEX Road Warriors last Wednesday, slipped to 4-5.
The Elasto Painters ended the game on an 11-0 run in the final four minutes and 27 seconds.
Mark Caguioa’s floater gave Ginebra a 79-71 cushion but the Kings were held scoreless in the last 4:27.
LA Tenorio muffed a wide open layup that would’ve stretched Ginebra’s lead back to eight. Rain or Shine capitalized and went on a four-point swing after Chism was fouled and cut the deficit to four, 79-75, with 1:55 remaining.
Paul Lee then buried a triple before Chism put back his own miss for an 80-79 edge for the Painters with 52.0 ticks to go. Lee added 18 points to lead all locals in scoring and grabbed 11 rebounds to boot.
With a chance to take the lead, Baracael, fresh off the bench, turned the ball over with 8.6 seconds left before Chism’s freebies sealed the game.
It was a rough-and-tumble game with a playoff-like atmosphere. The predominant Ginebra crowd was into it right from the opening tip from the final buzzer.
Buoyed by the boisterous crowd, Ginebra zoomed to an early lead and a 46-28 advantage in the second quarter before Rain or Shine regrouped and found ways to get back into the game.
Michael Dunigan paced the Kings with 24 points and eight rebounds. Greg Slaughter had 10 points and 12 rebounds but played limited minutes in the second half with Japeth Aguilar having a decent outing with nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.