RAIN or Shine rediscovered its shooting touch in the endgame to nip Blackwater 83-80 Saturday at the start of their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals duel at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Five of the Elasto Painters' 16 triples came in the final 3:11 of the game with none bigger than the one Rey Nambatac boomed in from four feet beyond the arc that capped their rise from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit and gave them an 83-80 lead, only 2.3 ticks left.
And when Bobby Ray Parks Jr. missed his own heave just before the final buzzer, Rain or Shine taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three duel became official.
"It was just a lucky win," said coach Caloy Garcia, whose E-Painters now have the chance to close out the duel on Tuesday.
"We were down... akala ko talo na, eh," admitted Garcia.
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While Rain or Shine celebrated, Blackwater trooped into its own dugout wondering what could have been.
Following an 11-0 run for a 76-67 lead, the Elite seemed well in control and were still up 80-72, going to the last 1:34 of the game. Then disaster struck, partly to their own doing.
Off a timeout, Carl Montgomery found himself wide open and promptly drained a 3 just before Nambatac made an acrobatic layup off his own steal in the ensuing inbound, bringing Rain or Shine within 77-80.
"After we hit that 3-point shot we got the steal. It definitely gave us the opportunity to stay in the game," noted Garcia.
After Greg Smith capped a poor shooting night with a wayward hook shot, Gabe Norwood found himself free and boomed in his own trey to tie the game at 80, 38.6 ticks left.
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When Parks missed on a turnaround, Garcia called timeout in the last 10.5 seconds to design a play anchored on Montgomery. The import did receive the ball but instead of going for the basket he opted to pass off to Nambatac, who faked off Roi Sumang before launching his game-winner.
Ed Daquioag came off the bench to lead Rain or Shine with 19 points. Montgomery wound up with 17 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks while Nambatac tossed in 13 points on a night he shot 4-of-12 from the field.
"Rey hit a big shot. But I think our import played his heart out today. He wanted to prove something and he gave us what we wanted," said Garcia.
For naught went Parks' gamehigh 20 points as well as Mac Belo's 17 points and 10 rebounds and Smith's 16 points and 19 rebounds.
Allein Maliksi was the only other Blackwater player in double figures with 12 as Mike Digregorio muffed all his seven shots and went scoreless.
Smith, the Elite's third import for the conference who came in only last Monday evening, actually didn't buy a basket until the third quarter, missing all his first five shots. He did, however, went 9-of-10 from the stripe in the first half, helping the team keep within 39-50 at the break.
Then Blackwater started turning the game around in the third period which Rain or Shine started by missing its first eight shots, a stark departure from the first 24 minutes of play which it controlled by making 10 of 27 three-point tries.
The E-Painters went 4-of-21 in the third quarter and got outscored by the Elite 22-9 to fall behind 61-59.
The trend continued in the opening minutes of the payoff period. After making just five triples in the first three quarters, Blackwater immediately sank three in that surge to go up by nine, 5:56 left in the game.
Then Montgomery sparked the E-Painters' revival with a rainbow shot that moved them within 72-77. (NC)
The scores:
Rain or Shine 83 - Daquioag 19, Montgomery 17, Nambatac 13, Belga 11, Norwood 10, Rosales 5, Mocon 5, Ponferada 2, Onwubere 1, Borboran 0, Torres 0.
Blackwater 80 - Parks 20, Belo 17, Smith 16, Maliksi 12, Sumang 5, Al-Hussaini 3, Cortez 3, Alolino 2, Sena 2, Digregorio 0.
Quarterscores: 22-21, 50-39, 59-61, 83-80.
