MANILA, Philippines – Another lower-ranked team lives another day.

The seventh seed Rain or Shine Elastopainters fended off a late-surging TNT Katropa, 106-102, to force a do-or-die game in the quarterfinals of the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup at Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday, September 27.

Holding an 84-75 lead into the fourth quarter, Rain or Shine pulled away with an 18-7 run, powered by Raymond Almazan’s 7 points, to push its advantage to 20-points, 102-82.

The KaTropa regained their bearings and unloaded a 18-2 run, punctuated by a Jayson Castro trey with 1:25 left in the game, to make it a two possession ball game, 98-104.

TNT still had a small window to win after Elastopainters Maverick Ahanmisi and Gabe Norwood split their free throws, 106-102, but Troy Rosario and and Glen Rice Jr. both missed their 3-point attempts in the last 18 seconds.

“We just extended the series and I told the players that we are a good matchup with TNT. Matchup wise against the import, against the locals, we’re almost the same, we almost run the same system, it was all about who wants it more in the offensive side,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.

Rain or Shine joined the eighth seed Blackwater Elite, who pulled off an upset against the No. 1 Meralco Bolts on Tuesday, September 26, as teams who have a chance of overcoming a twice-to-beat disadvantage.

J’Nathan Bullock anchored the Elastopainters with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists while Gabe Norwood added 15 points behind 4 treys.

Almazan chipped in 13 points while Ahanmisi, Chris Tiu and Don Trollano combined for 30.

The Rain or Shine defense limited Best Import candidate Glen Rice Jr., who is averaging 32.9 points per game, to only 19 points.

Kelly Williams paced the KaTropa with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Castro added 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.  

The Scores

Rain or Shine (106): Bullock 31, Norwood 15, Almazan 13, Ahanmisi 10, Tiu 10, Trollano 10 Cruz 8, Belga 5, Borboran 2, Daquioag 2, Ponferada 0