Rain or Shine finishes Blackwater off to advance to knockout quarters

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters gave playoffs first-timer Blackwater Elite a rude awakening with a 95-90 victory in phase 1 of the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, December 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Jeff Chan topscored for Rain or Shine with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while big man JR Quiñahan contributed 16 points on 7-of-13 field goals.

Raymond Almazan and Maverick Ahanmisi came off the bench and produced 11 points apiece.

“If we want to make the semifinals we have to play a lot better than we did today,” noted head coach Yeng Guiao, who wasn’t too happy with his team’s effort.

“We prepared really hard for this game but I didn’t see the kind of effort, especially defensive effort, that I expected. But I’m hoping the next time we play we’ll be able to raise our level of energy,” he added.

“I’m not really happy with our win although it got us a step closer. If we play this way we might not make the next round.”

Though playing in their first ever quarterfinal game, the Elite still put up a good fight in the payoff period after trailing by as much as 15 points in the third. Blackwater tied the game at 75 early on before experience kicked in and the Painters regained control.

Gabe Norwood pushed the lead back up to 91-83 with a brilliant alley-oop jam plus the bonus off a Jeff Chan lob with 2:54 left to play.

(WATCH: Gabe Norwood throws down alley-oop in Rain or Shine win)

Blackwater made it just a 93-88 game in the closing seconds but the valiant effort from third year guard Carlo Lastimosa, who finished with a game-high 35 points and 31 of those coming in the second half, went for naught after consecutive empty possessions down the stretch.

“It was a struggle just shaking off Blackwater, they played an excellent game,” Guiao admitted. “But in the end I guess the effort of one guy, Lastimosa, was great but we were lucky he didn’t get enough support from his teammates.”

JP Erram and Art Dela Cruz were the only other Blackwater players in double figures with 11 points apiece, although Erram, who added 8 rebounds, two steals and a block, fouled out with 6:45 remaining in the game.

Lastimosa, who recorded his 3rd 30-point game of the season, also could not bail his team out as he missed a lay-up that could have made it a 3-point game and subsequently fouled out with under a minute left.

Blackwater also played undermanned as vital cog Reil Cervantes missed the game after a freak accident on Christmas Eve where a chair fell on his right big toe and his nail had to be taken off.

Cervantes came off an explosive outing against Mahindra with 24 points to end the eliminations.

James Sena is similarly out for 4 to 6 weeks due to a hairline fracture in his right foot.

Rain or Shine advanced to the knockout phase of the quarterfinals and will face the winner of Saturday’s main game between Talk ‘N Text and NLEX.

Scores: 

Rain or Shine (95): Chan 17, Quinahan 16, Ahanmisi 11, Almazan 11, Cruz 9, Norwood 8, Belga 7, Tiu 6, Ponferada 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.

Quarter scores: 17-14, 44-34, 69-60, 95-90. 

 – Rappler.com