Rain or Shine wins heated tiff versus Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters had the last laugh in a heated encounter against crowd darlings Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 82-79, in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, March 15 at the Cuneta Astrodome.

“It’s another one of those hard, rugged, exciting games against Ginebra,” said head coach Yeng Guiao.  

The Painters, who trailed by as many as 18 in the first half, ended the game on an 11-0 run to climb back from 8 points down with under 5 minutes to go and seal the win. 

Wayne Chism, who finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds, scored 6 of those last 11 Rain or Shine points including the go-ahead putback, 80-79, with 52 seconds left and the marginal free throws with 8.6 remaining on the clock. 

Ginebra had the chance to score in the final 27.6 seconds after Chism was hounded by defenders causing an 8-second backcourt violation, but newly-inserted Mac Baracael slipped and turned the ball over.

Baracael, who was cold all game long with just 2 points, was later forced to take a potentially game-tying triple that was blocked by Beau Belga as time expired. 

Paul Lee added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Painters, who hiked their record to 6-3. 

Big man Belga, who wound up with 11 points, earned the ire of the fans throughout the game as tempers flared due to the highly physical play. 

The crowd was so infuriated at Belga that he became the target of a water bottle thrown from the stands in the fourth quarter. Belga, no longer making much of an effort to contain himself, responded with an inappropriate hand gesture that was captured on live television. 

Game was halted at that juncture as several fans, some of whom proudly flashed their Ginebra t-shirts, were escorted out of the venue after Rain or Shine players and team officials pointed them out as the culprits for the water bottle incident. 

Belga and Mark Caguioa were also part of a scuffle that saw the veteran Ginebra guard practically wrestle Belga to the floor, but it was only ruled as a regular foul.

Belga was literally laughing and rejoicing in the end as he was responsible for stopping Baracael’s last-ditch triple attempt.

“It’s like this every time, especially with Ginebra,” said Guiao. “It’s always a rough and rugged game against them. You have to be physically and mentally tough to last a game.”

Mike Dunigan led all Gin Kings with his 24 points and 8 rebounds. While Greg Slaughter added 10 markers and 12 boards.

Caguioa scored all of his 8 points in the fourth, including the floater that gave Ginebra a 79-71 cushion with 4:21 remaining. But that was the last the Gin Kings would score as they absorbed their second consecutive defeat. 

This was the second straight game where Ginebra blew a double-digit lead and fell through in the endgame as they slipped to a 4-5 record. — Rappler.com