Rain or Shine big man Beau Belga.–PBA IMAGES
ANTIPOLO CITY — Rain or Shine picked Phoenix apart on Sunday with a 100-85 victory, finally quenching its dry spell in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Rookie Adrian Nocum finished with 28 points as the Elastopainters broke through, wriggling themselves out of a four-game slump at Ynares Center here.
Beau Belga finished with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jhonard Clarito chipped in 19 more in the scoring effort that kept Rain or Shine from matching their 0-5 start in the last Commissioner’s Cup.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup
“We shot a little better with our free throws, though we still missed a lot. We played better defense in the fourth quarter. In our previous losses, we’ve had pretty close games—except for that game against San Miguel. But before that, we just couldn’t close out games, can’t finish in the end games. We struggle whenever we’re going for free throws,” coach Yeng Guiao said.
“It all worked out for us. For a while I was worried that we would go 0-5. At least there’s a bit of an improvement with 1-4. The (All-Star and Holy Week) break’s going to be quite a while so we look at it as time to reset, a time to bring this team together and see where we can improve,” he went on.
The Fuel Masters got the goods from their own rookie, Ricci Rivero, who finished with 16 points. RJ Jazul, Kenneth Tuffin, and Raffy Verano all finished with twin-digit scores as the petrol club missed out on the golden chance to get a streak going after winning over Terrafirma last week.
Rain or Shine battles winless Converge when it gets back from the break on April 3. Phoenix, meanwhile, goes up against the defending champion San Miguel on Mar. 31.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 100 – Nocum 28, Belga 21, Clarito 19, Santillan 8, Caracut 6, Belo 5, Mamuyac 4, Borboran 4, Norwood 3, Ildefonso 2, Asistio 0, Demusis 0
PHOENIX 85 – Rivero 16, Jazul 11, Tuffin 10, Verano 10, Manganti 7, Mocon 6, Alejandro 6, Muyang 5, Daves 4, Salado 3, Camacho 2, Lalata 0
Quarterscores: 22-29, 47-41, 78-66, 100-85.