Rain or Shine overcomes Lastimosa, Blackwater
Rain or Shine outplayed Blackwater down the stretch to win, 95-90, and advance to the second phase of the 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Squandering a chance to nail the outright semifinals slot last week, Rain or Shine moved one step closer to the Final Four and will face TNT in the knockout quarterfinals.
Despite the victory, coach Yeng Guiao was not satisfied with the way his wards played on the defensive end.
“If we play this way, we might not get to the next round.”
“We had a struggle shaking off Blackwater. I guess with the effort of one guy in Carlo Lastimosa, we’re lucky he didn’t get enough support from his teammates because we couldn’t stop him,” he said, noting the bullet Rain or Shine dodged after another Lastimosa explosion.
The third-year guard shot 13-of-26 from the field to finish with 35 points as he kept the game close and gave Rain or Shine quite a scare.
Blackwater clawed back from a 15-point hole — tying the game at 75 midway through the fourth quarter before timely hits for the E-Painters, coupled with missed chances in the final minute for Blackwater, allowed them to come through.
“We were fortunate that we were able to make good shots in the endgame,” said Guiao. “One game down, one more to go. If we want to make the semis we have to play better than what we did today.”
“We prepared really hard for this game but I didn’t see the defensive effort,” he continued. “We’re hoping we can prepare a little harder and have some serious talk with the guys. We get good leads and we lose those leads, then we lose momentum.”
Jeff Chan came off the bench to topscore for the E-Painters with 17 points, while JR Quiñahan got 16 markers.
Maverick Ahanmisi and Raymond Almazan both had 11 points for Rain or Shine.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 95 – Chan 17, Quinahan 16, Ahanmisi 11, Almazan 11, Cruz 9, Norwood 8, Belga 7, Tiu 6, Ponferrada 4, Trollano 4, Ibanes 2, Teng.
BLACKWATER 90 – Lastimosa 35, Dela Cruz 11, Erram 11, Reyes 9, Gamalinda 6, Agovida 5, Cortez 5, Golla 4, Ballesteros 2, Melano 2, Canada 0, Vosotros 0.
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