Rain or Shine, TNT in KO tiff

TNT’S Jayson Castro fires a jumper off NLEX’s Sean Anthony.

A RAIN or Shine side that lacked the intensity and killer instinct squeaked past Blackwater yesterday, 95-90, to make it to the second phase of the Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup, which coach Yeng Guiao said his Elasto Painters won’t survive with the same effort.

“If we keep playing like this, we might not make it to the next round (semifinals),” Guiao said inside the press room of Mall of Asia Arena after his Elasto Painters blew a 15-point lead and were dragged into a tight endgame by the 10th-ranked Elite.

“If we want to make the semis, we have to play better than we did today,” Guiao went on. “We’re hoping we can prepare even harder for the next game and (have a) talk with the guys.”

It was the second straight time that the Painters couldn’t come up with a good finishing kick, with the first resulting in a 111-106 loss to NLEX exactly a week ago that cost them No. 1 ranking and put them in this long road to the Final Four.

“We prepared really hard for this game, but I didn’t see the defensive effort (from my players),” Guiao said when asked of their lackadaisical stand against a side playing in the playoffs for the first time.

Next up for Rain or Shine is TNT, which survived a gritty NLEX crew later in the night, 90-88, to also make it to the next stage after just one game.
Jeff Chan paced the Painters with 17 points before saying that the same kind of game they will play in the second phase won’t take them past any foe.
Blackwater made a game out of it through the efforts of Carlo Lastimosa, who scored all but four of his night-high 35 points in the final two periods, including 17 in the fourth quarter.

JR Quiñahan tossed in 16 points and rookie Maverick Ahanmisi and Raymond Almazan chipped in with 11 apiece for the Painters, who will clash with the Tropang Texters on Monday also at the Pasay venue.

The scores:
First Game
RAIN OR SHINE 95—Chan 17, Quinahan 16, Ahanmisi 11, Almazan 11, Cruz 9, Norwood 8, Belga 7, Tiu 6, Ponferada 4, Trollano 4, Ibanes 2, Teng.
BLACKWATER 90—Lastimosa 35, Dela Cruz 11, Erram 11, Reyes 9, Gamalinda 6, Agovida 5, Cortez 5, Golla 4, Ballesteros 2, Melano 2, Canada 0, Vosotros 0.
Quarters: 17-14, 44-34, 69-60, 95-90
Second Game
TNT 90—Rosario 20, Seigle 17, Reyes R. 12, Castro 10, Fonacier 10, Williams 9, Miranda 3, Tautuaa 3, Aban 2, Carey 2, Rosser 0, Reyes J. 0.
NLEX 88—Taulava 22, Anthony 17, Villanueva J. 13, Lanete 9, Alas 7, Borboran 7, Khobuntin 7, Cardona 5, Enciso 1, Camson 0, Reyes 0, Villanueva E. 0.
Quarters: 11-21, 36-36, 61-67, 90-88