Rain or Shine rallies late to take down skidding Alaska

MANILA, Philippines – Despite missing coach Yeng Guiao for most of the second half, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters managed to overturn an 11-point fourth quarter deficit and escape the Alaska Aces, 117-114, in the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup on Saturday, August 13 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Dior Lowhorn put up 24 points with 10 rebounds and 5 assists while Paul Lee contributed 18 markers – 10 in the fourth – and 4 dimes off the bench, including the go-ahead trey, 108-106, that put his team on top for good with 1:22 left.

Rain or Shine managed the comeback win in the absence of Guiao, who was ejected in the third quarter after two technical fouls.

“The team did a good job without me,” said Guiao, who once again expressed his confusion over the officiating and what constitutes a foul.

“It’s not just calls going against us, although there we some, it’s just the confusion of not knowing what a foul is and what not a foul is.

“Okay lang ‘yung may masamang tawag pero alam mong masama. Ang mas mahirap ‘yung hindi mo alam kung masama o tama ‘yung tawag. Hindi mo alam kung ano ‘yung tawag. I think we will just have to be clarified on those things. Not just me but most other teams.”

(It’s okay if the call is bad and you know it’s bad. What’s hard is when you have no idea if a call is bad or if it is right. You don’t know what should be the right call.)

The Painters, who rose to 3-2, rallied from an 87-98 deficit with just under 7 minutes remaining and tied the count at 104 on a JR Quiñahan triple, before Lee later on permanently shoved his team ahead.

Quiñahan finished with 16 points, including 8 in the final frame, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, while Chris Tiu and Jeff Chan added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Despite the win, Guiao admitted he still wasn’t satisifed with his team’s performance.

“I’m still not happy with the way we’re playing,” he said. “I still feel that we did not have the chemistry that we usually have. We’re still not consistent.”

This frustrated version of Rain or Shine, which also led by 12 in the first half, was still enough to survive the 41 points of Alaska import LaDontae Henton. He also had 9 rebounds but turned the ball over 7 times.

Calvin Abueva posted 17 points, 8 boards, and 7 turnovers himself, while JVee Casio and Dondon Hontiveros chipped in 13 markers apiece. Sonny Thoss had 11 points and 8 rebounds as Alaska skidded to 3 straight losses for a 1-4 slate. – Rappler.com