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| Jhonard Clarito channeled his inner "Dennis Rodman" to keep Rain Or Shine alive. PBA Images |
MANILA––In a rare moment, "Michael Jhonard" played like Dennis Rodman.
Jhonard Clarito had himself a career night in the rebounding department as Rain Or Shine lived to fight another day in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals after downing NLEX, 92-89, at the start of the conference's knockout phase on Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Clarito just knew where the ball would land after a miss, ending up with a career-high 21 rebounds, but none were more important than five boards within the last two minutes that helped save the game for the Elasto Painters.
Clarito grabbed two offensive rebounds off Santi Santillan's free throw miss and Clarito's missed putback, and Adrian Nocum made sure Clarito's efforts would not be wasted as he tipped in another Clarito miss to give ROS a 90-85 lead with 1:43 to go.
Robert Bolick kept NLEX in the game with a four-pointer, while Clarito was called for traveling in the next play.
However, Bolick missed a tough go-ahead layup, and Clarito cleaned up the boards again, although Nocum was called for a turnover of his own in the Elasto Painters' next offensive.
Bolick had another chance to give the Road Warriors the lead, but he once again missed a layup, and Clarito once again picked up the loose ball, forcing Bolick to foul him with 10 seconds to go.
Clarito made two free throws off the Bolick foul to up ROS's lead to three.
Now forced to make an outside shot to keep NLEX alive, Bolick tried to fish for a Gian Mamuyac foul while taking a four to no avail, and Clarito grabbed the game-ending board for ROS.
Clarito also led the Elasto Painters in scoring with 20 points as they canceled the Road Warriors' twice-to-beat advantage and forced a knockout game on Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Nocum also had 20 points with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench.
Xyrus Torres also put up 20 markers for NLEX along with three rebounds, two assists, and one steal, but he was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 92 – Clarito 20, Nocum 20, Santillan 16, Caracut 10, Mamuyac 7, Tiongson 6, Asistio 5, Porter 4, Norwood 4, Datu 0
NLEX 89 – Torres 20, Mocon 16, Bolick 15, Ramirez 11, Semerad 9, Bahio 6, Alas 6, Nieto 2, Fajardo 2, Policarpio 2
QUARTERS: 28-15, 47-37, 69-73, 92-89
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