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| Deon Thompson stands tall with his best performance in the PBA. PBA Images |
MANILA––Rain Or Shine completed a quarterfinal turnaround against Converge in the PBA Commissioner's Cup with a 112-103 win in the rubber match of their best-of-three series on Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
An 11-2 run early in the fourth quarter became pivotal for the Elasto Painters.
They took advantage of Cheick Diallo's foul trouble and opened a 94-82 lead with 8:42 left.
Led by Alec Stockton, though, the FiberXers tried to crawl back and cut the lead down to five, 102-97, with 3:51 left.
However, a huge three-point play from Adrian Nocum increased ROS's lead back to eight, 105-97, with 3:28 to go, and both teams just exchanged baskets in the end.
Deon Thompson imposed his will inside and led the Elasto Painters, who crawled back from a Game 1 defeat to clinch the series, with a conference-high 34 points on 16-of-20 shooting, 12 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, and two steals.
Nocum followed up on his 28-point blast in Game 2 with a 25-point showing in Game 3 on 9-of-13 field goals including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range alongside three rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
ROS will now play TNT in the semifinals which will begin later this February right after the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier window.
Stockton's playoff career-high 26 points with one rebound and six assists was enough for the FiberXers as they missed out again on a semifinal berth despite being the third seed.
Diallo, who eventually kept himself from fouling out in the end, finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 112 – Thompson 34, Nocum 25, Caracut 14, Clarito 11, Asistio 7, Belga 6, Datu 5, Tiongson 5, Santillan 4, Malonzo 1
CONVERGE 103 – Stockton 26, Diallo 19, Baltazar 16, Arana 15, Winston 14, Racal 7, Heading 3, Andrade 3, Santos 0, Cabagnot 0, Caralipio 0, Delos Santos 0, Javillonar 0
QUARTERS: 22-21, 50-45, 80-77, 112-103
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Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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