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| Aaron Fuller won it for Rain Or Shine against Meralco. Peter Baltazar |
MANILA—Aaron Fuller made sure Rain or Shine's offense would still matter in a game where the team turned to its defense, scoring the winning shot in an 85-83 squeaker against Meralco to start the second round of the PBA Governors' Cup group stages on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Fuller muscled his way to receive an assist from Adrian Nocum for the go-ahead layup with 39.4 seconds left.
Held scoreless in the last 1:45 of the game, the Bolts had a chance to force overtime as Adrian Nocum, who missed two free throws that could have forced his opponents to try their luck from four-point range, fouled Bong Quinto, who was perfect from the foul line this conference entering the game, during an inbound play with 2.5 seconds left.
However, Quinto missed his first free throw, leaving him with no choice but to intentionally miss the second in hopes for an offensive rebound.
Fuller, though, got a proper position to grab the game-saving rebound for the Elasto Painters.
Despite committing nine turnovers, Fuller's clutch shot and rebound were all that mattered for ROS, and he finished with 25 points, 13 boards, one assist, one block, and two steals.
Deo Cuajao added 12 points on 50 percent shooting, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal as the team now won four straight games after a 0-2 start, avenging its previous loss to Meralco by holding them to just eight points the entire fourth period.
Chris Newsome led the Bolts, who lost their last three games to drop to 2-4, with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Antonio Hester added 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while Cliff Hodge and Javee Mocon each had 14 markers on solid field goal clips with the latter grabbing 10 boards.
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