Rain or Shine sends NLEX to fourth straight loss

Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood. PBA IMAGES

Rain or Shine climbed to fifth place in the PBA Philippine Cup standings after dealing NLEX its fourth straight loss, 97-86, Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Elasto Painters jumped to .500 territory and leapfrogged three teams—Meralco, Globalport, and NLEX—for fifth spot while the Road Warriors dropped to 2-4 after a hot start this conference.

In a game that saw just one NLEX lead happen, 10-9, after a Kevin Alas jumper midway through the first quarter, the Elasto Painters basically owned much of the 48-minute match.

Rain or Shine ultimately established its dominance across the middle quarters mounting a 22-4 run that Ed Daquioag capped off with a couple of free throws early in the third.

After the Elasto Painters lost to Kia, 98-94, head coach Caloy Garcia said the best way to forget about the loss, which was Picanto’s first victory, was go out and take the Road Warriors by the jugular.

“I told the players the only way we can forget the game against Kia is basically to win this game,” said Garcia. “I felt disappointed on how we performed in that game and I told them everybody who gets inside the court has to put that energy.”

“Basically we just have to play as a unit, we can’t rely on one guy, we’re not looking for one guy. We’re trying to move the ball and get the best possible shot.”

Rain or Shine’s constant search for the open man led to four players put up double digits in points with Maverick Ahanmisi scoring the most with 20 points while grabbing eight boards.

Gabe Norwood finished with a near double-double of 13 points and nine rebounds with three steals for the Elasto Painters while James Yap and Chris Tiu added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

JR Quiñahan led NLEX with 22 points and six boards while Alex Mallari had 17 points and nine boards.