Rain or Shine drew another vintage performance from James Yap in it narrow victory over NorthPort, 107-100, in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Friday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
Yap, who has been the spearhead of the ElastoPainters’ offense in its past exploits, knocked down a step-back triple over BatangPier’s Paolo Taha to put his squad ahead, 102-100, with roughly three minutes left to play.
Rey Nambatac picked up the scoring cudgels and contributed from the charity stripe before Mark Borboran dealt the final blow and formalized the Painters’ fifth victory in six outings.
“We hit big shots,” said Rain or Shine mentor Caloy Garcia. “James hit big shots, Nambatac carried us.”
Garcia went on to commend Borboran who he said “changed the complexion of the game.”
“Practically, those guys who played in the end gave us this win,” he added.
Yap finished with 19 points, joining Beau Belga as Rain or Shine’s top scorers. Raymond Almazan finally got his scoring groove back, tallying 14. Nambatac and Maverick Ahanmisi both chimed in 11.
Stanley Pringle had 34 points for the Batang Pier. Sean Anthony also contributed greatly on the scoring department, finishing the game with 22 markers.
“Come Sunday, we play in the first game, the time for us to study them is short,” said Garcia ahead of his squad’s showdown with league-leading Phoenix who they face this Sunday.
“They played well. They beat NLEX by just a point today and they’re now 5-0,” he added. “It’s going be a tough game with both teams playing hard today.”
NorthPort, for its part, slid to a 2-2 record in the standings ahead of its meeting against Phoenix.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine 107 – Yap 19, Belga 19, Torres 16, Almazan 14, Ahanmisi 11, Nambatac 11, Borboran 6, Norwood 4, Daquioag 3, Rosales 2, Mocon 2, Ponferada 0.
NorthPort 100 – Pringle 34, Anthony 22, Tautuaa 16, Bolick 9, Lanete 7, Guinto 6, Gabayni 4, Grey 2, Elorde 0, Sollano 0, Taha 0, Arana 0.
Quarters: 28-25, 53-59, 79-89, 107-100.
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