Painters reach desired win total, with chance to get group top spot

NLEX star Robert Bolick (with ball) cuts his way through the Rain or Shine defense. His all-around performance, however, went down the drain against a resolute Painters crew in overtime. —PBA IMAGES

Coach Yeng Guiao wanted Rain or Shine to get to six wins to get to the Governors’ Cup playoffs. He got exactly that and more on Tuesday night.

With heroes abounding, the Elasto Painters withstood NLEX, 123-114, at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila, for an overtime win that should come in handy when crossover knockout phase rolls around.

“This is a good test. This is a good experience. We have to learn how to win close games,” Guiao said on the heels of the win that sealed his crew’s entry into the quarterfinals.

The Elasto Painters had all but one player chipping in the effort that put them back on the winning column with a 6-2 win-loss mark and eased the foul taste of last Friday’s beating at the hands of Barangay Ginebra.

“What we tried to do was to hang in there. I told [the players] to keep it close because for all of their import’s brilliance and the support from their locals, there will come a point that they’ll tire out, and maybe miss some shots. That’s going to be our opportunity to make a run—which actually happened.”

Springboard victory

Adrian Nocum scored seven of Rain or Shine’s 13 points in the extra period, preserving the heroics of Aaron Fuller, who put up an eye-popping 23 points and 25 rebounds, and Anton Asistio, who got going early on the way to finishing 25 points.

Nocum had 11 points, joining Jhonard Clarito and rookies Felix Lemetti and Caelan Tiongson in finishing with double-digit scores.

NLEX looked like it was finally going to put an end to its three-game slide, thanks to new import DeQuan Jones’ 49 points and 11 rebounds and Robert Bolick’s near-triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. But their hot shooting abandoned them when it mattered the most, dooming the Road Warriors to a 3-5 record.

Guiao has always taken games for something else, and Tuesday’s triumph was no exception. The champion coach feels it’s the character test his charges need when they navigate the best-of-five quarterfinals, which gets going next week.

The fiery mentor feels it’s also the springboard the squad needs as it again plays San Miguel—a team they nearly beat during their previous encounter.

“We’ll see if we can still play for that No. 1 spot in our group. We’ll keep trying,” Guiao said. “We’ll have a chance against San Miguel on Thursday.”

San Miguel side fresh off a cutthroat, 49-point thrashing of Barangay Ginebra.

“It’s a playoff game. We’ve lost five straight against San Miguel since the last conference. And we haven’t solved June Mar Fajardo and their import,” he said.

“It may take us 16 tries to do so. But I know that time will come,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ll see on Thursday.” INQ