Rain or Shine sends NLEX reeling to fourth straight loss, evens record anew

A night after Jerrick Ahanmisi exploded for Akari-Adamson, his older brother Maverick took charge this time. PBA Media Bureau

By Patrick Sutare

QUEZON CITY--Rain or Shine mapped an escape act amidst a risky logjam in the win-loss ladder which was executed successfully on Friday night.

The Elasto Painters scored quick redemption following a shocking loss to Kia last timeout with a 97-86 win against a skidding NLEX team at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to put the team back to .500 in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Instead of falling all the way down to 11th place, the win placed ROS to solo fifth with a 3-3 slate.

Still gunning for consistency, though, coach Caloy Garcia hopes his team will finally get things going and string together a series of victories, especially that the conference already reached its halfway point.

“I hope we can be consistent in playing this way,” Garcia said after mentioning how the loss to the Picanto affected the team’s mindset ahead of the match against the Road Warriors. “We all make mistakes and we just learn from it.”

The E-Painters pounced on the Road Warriors’ rather vile shooting early on, leading by a substantial cushion at halftime, 53-38.

Realizing its counterpart’s offensive woes, ROS went for the jugular in the second half as they doubled up on defense and led by as much as 21 which was never relinquished.

Maverick Ahanmisi led the way for the Painters as he wound up 20 points while hitting five triples along with eights boards and three assists.

Gabe Norwood, meanwhile, did a little bit of everything as he scored 13 markers, grabbed nine boards, dished out a couple of dimes and took the ball away three times.

JR Quinahan tried to will NLEX back from the large deficit against his former team but to no avail as his effort of 22 points and six rebounds in 38 minutes all went for naught.

Alex Mallari had 17 points, nine boards and three assists while Kiefer Ravena tallied 14 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench as the Road Warriors suffered their fourth loss in a row for a 2-4 record.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 97 - Ahanmisi 20, Norwood 13, Yap 12, Tiu 11, Borboran 9, Daquioag 7, Belga 6, Maiquez 6, Nambatac 6, Cruz 3, Ponferada 2, Trollano 2.

NLEX 86 - Quiñahan 22, Mallari 17, Ravena 14, Baguio 9, Alas 6, Tiongson 6, Gotladera 4, Fonacier 3, Uyloan 3, Soyud 2, Monfort 0, Taulava 0.

Quarters: 25-20, 53-38, 73-62, 97-86

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