Mark Yee. PBA IMAGES
Kia finally stopped its seemingly interminable slide after stunning Rain or Shine, 98-94, in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Saturday at Cuneta Astrodome.
The Picanto ended a 16-game losing skid dating back to last conference. It was Kia’s first taste of victory since pulling off a double overtime win over Phoenix on May 21, 2017.
“I’m more relieved than anything else because of this win,” said Kia coach Ricky Dandan. “We broke that [16-game losing skid] and this will go a long way in our rebuilding our ball club.”
“It was really difficult for us because our confidence were all shot, but we really had no choice but to move forward and look at the positives despite all of those blowout games,” he added. “We really dug deep and our guys really worked hard for this win.”
Kia posted its first win this conference after a 0-4 start but not after surviving an anxious final minute where the Picanto barely avoided a major collapse.
Protecting a three-point lead with 55 seconds left, Kia turned the ball over twice.
But it appeared like the game was really for the Picanto after the Elasto Painters muffed two free throws and five makable attempts from the field, three of which came in the last 19.5 ticks.
Rain or Shine guard Chris Tiu, one of the best free throw shooters in the league, had a couple of splits from the line. He also missed an open triple from the right corner that would’ve given the Painters a one-point lead in the waning seconds.
The game got testy late in the second quarter that saw the ejection of Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan and Kia’s Eric Camson after engaging in a fight.
Glen Khobuntin filled in for Camson, scoring eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back baskets that gave the Picanto a 96-89 cushion with 1:52 remaining.
Mark Yee nearly had a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds while Rashawn McCarthy and Roider Cabrera led Kia with 14 points each.
Rookie Rey Nambatac notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Painters, who fell to 2-3.