Rain or Shine guts out ‘ugly’ win over NorthPort

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MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine hung on for a tough 70-68 win over NorthPort to maintain its perfect record in the PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Pampanga.

Rey Nambatac drained a couple of pressure-packed free throws after a controversial foul call against Paolo Taha with 1.3 seconds left in the game to secure the win for the Elasto Painters, who tied TNT at the top of the standing with a 3-0 record.

“This was an ugly game for us,” said Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia. “I believe we can do better.”

“We started bad and I think we have to be more consistent. In the defensive side we were consistent but in the offensive side I know we can be more consistent.”

The Elasto Painters were able to hold the Batang Pier to just two points on 1-of-21 shooting in the third quarter to take a 46-40 lead heading into the fourth but struggled to ice the game in the final period, allowing NorthPort to tie it at 68 off a difficult layup by Christian Standhardinger.

NorthPort’s woeful shooting in the third period matched the second-worst mark in a quarter after the Mobiline Phone Pals recorded its own two-point frame in 2001.

Interestingly, the club that owns the worst field goal percentage in a quarter is Rain or Shine when it went 0-of-16 in the first quarter of its 69-68 loss against Magnolia in the 2019 Governors’ Cup.

“It seems that both teams got stuck offensively,” said Garcia.

Adrian Wong led the Elasto Painters’ offense with 15 points with Sidney Onwubere adding 11 points and five boards.

Nambatac did his part in filling up the stat sheets with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, and one steal.

Sean Anthony and Kevin Ferrer both had 13 points and combined for 23 rebounds to lead the Batang Pier, who have yet to win in three games.