Rain or Shine’s Nick Demusis gets chippy with a Qatar player in the Jones Cup. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Rain or Shine’s woes continued halfway into its campaign in the 42nd William Jones Cup after a 93-86 loss to Qatar on Tuesday at Taipei Heping Gymnasium.
Inconsistency hounded the Elasto Painters anew, this time squandering a seven-point third quarter lead and allowing the Qatari national side to pull away in the latter half of the fourth as victory slipped away once more in the Taiwanese capital.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s squad dropped to 0-4 with the remaining schedule expected to be even tougher for the PBA side with Iran on Wednesday and Korean Basketball League and East Asia Super League champion Anyang KGC.
Rain or Shine also plays the U-22 team of Japan and US NCAA Division I side University of California, Irvine.
The loss spoiled the best game of the tournament for import Nick Evans, who had 20 points and six rebounds.
Rain or Shine import Nick Evans during a game against Qatar in the Jones Cup. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Anton Asistio came up with 16 points but that couldn’t help Rain or Shine end a string of defeats since the international tournament began over the weekend.
It appeared that Rain or Shine was in control when a Beau Belga basket made it 57-50 midway in the third.
But Qatar fought back and turned the game into a seesaw affair into the fourth, even after Haracic Meho was tossed for holding Santi Santillan in the neck during an altercation.
Rain or Shine would later lose Nick Demusis for a disqualifying foul, 6:28 left for bumping Nedim Muslic while going for the rebound.
The game was tied at 73-all when Rain or Shine lost Demusis, and Qatar eventually take control, building an 84-77 lead on Mohammad Abbasher’s layup with less than three minutes left.
Naturalized player Michael Lewis had 19 points, six assists and two steals for Qatar.