Rain or Shine parades new import, holds on to beat Magnolia

Carl Montgomery. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine hung on to beat Magnolia, 86-82, to strengthen its playoff chances in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Carl Montgomery, who replaced the injured Denzel Bowles, posted a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds in his PBA debut, but it was Beau Belga who shone the brightest for the Elasto Painters.

“I just challenged the players today that having a new import is gonna be difficult plus the situation that we have,” said ROS head coach Caloy Garcia, whose squad notched back-to-back victories.

“He’s not the biggest import, not the tallest or strongest import but he was able to give the energy at the start of the second half when he started scoring,” Garcia said of Montgomery, who had eight points in the third quarter. “Beau also started to hit his 3-point shots.”

Belga sank four triples en route to a 22-point night that went with five rebounds and a steal off the bench.

The game marked the first meeting between the two squads since the Hotshots won the grueling Game 7 of their semifinals showdown last conference.

The win put Rain or Shine in a fifth-place tie with Magnolia at 5-5.

Ian Sangalang led all scorers with 24 points while James Farr added 19 points and 23 rebounds for the Hotshots, who lost despite outrebounding the Elasto Painters, 71-45.

Hotshots guard Mark Barroca just missed a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.