.jpg) |
| Anton Asistio lit it up from long range to pace the still red-hot Rain Or Shine. PBA Images |
MANILA––Rain or Shine withstood a gallant stand in the fourth quarter by Terrafirma to walk away with a 124-117 win in their PBA Commissioner's Cup match on Wednesday night at the Ynares Center 1 in Antipolo.
In the showdown between two teams that started the conference 3-0 but had gone separate ways since, the Elasto Painters were on track for a blowout win after a 41-18 second quarter gave them a 67-45 halftime lead.
The gap even ballooned to as high as 26, 88-62, late in the third quarter.
However, the Dyip slowly chipped away the lead and were within seven, 109-116, with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Terrafirma even had a chance to trim the deficit further after forcing a shotclock violation on ROS, but Ali Mubashar sorrily missed a point-blank layup, and Brent Paraiso, normally a good free-throw shooter, missed both charities off a foul from fellow Letran alumnus Deo Cuajao while letting Jaylen Johnson and Jun Roque hit back-to-back layups that upped the gap back to 11, 120-109.
Jerrick Ahanmisi hit a four to keep the Dyip at it, but Cuajao iced the Elasto Painters' win with a three at the other end.
Johnson and Anton Asistio each put up 18 points, with the former also tallying 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first PBA triple-double, as ROS remains undefeated at 7-0.
Asistio, on the other hand, hit all his field goals from the outside, going 4-for-6 on threes and 1-for-2 on fours.
Mubashar led Terrafirma, which has now dropped four straight games after its franchise-best start, with 32 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal, although he too had seven turnovers.
Ahanmisi added 21 points on three four-pointers, four rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, while Paraiso finished with 19 points on 9-for-14 field goals, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 124 – Asistio 18, Johnson 18, Roque 15, Nocum 13, Mamuyac 11, Cuajao 9, Tiongson 7, Santillan 6, Villegas 6, Belga 6, Lemetti 4, David 3, Clarito 2, Manaytay 2, Caracut 0
TERRAFIRMA 117 – Ali 32, J.Ahanmisi 21, Paraiso 19, Eriobu 16, Bravo 10, Catapusan 7, Umali 5, Zaldivar 3, Chiu 2, Hanapi 2, Garcia 0
QUARTERS: 26-27, 67-45, 96-73, 124-117
.jpg&description=PBA: ROS overcomes Q4 push from Terrafirma to go 7-0){kind=link}