Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao commended the resolve put up by his team in completing a come-from-behind 124-120 win over Converge in Game 1 of the 2026 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
The Elasto Painters scrapped their way back from being down 21 early in the second quarter to secure the victory and draw first blood in their best-of-five series that is expected to be a rough-and-tumble one.
‘I think the most important thing in this win is just our playoff toughness,’ said Guiao. ‘We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and we gave up too many offensive rebounds. But if we get to solve our problems, we can get back in the game, which is what happened.’ Rookie Deo Cuajao knocked down his outside shots during the third quarter that helped spark the rally. Adrian Nocum, import Aaron Fuller and Caelan Tiongson came through while Jhonard Clarito and Mike Malonzo shared duties in stopping Converge import Cameron Clark in the second half.
‘Deo waxed hot, Caelan waxed hot, and then we were able to limit their import,’ Guiao said. ‘Their import is so good, he was not missing in the first half. But we experimented with our matchup, and it worked a bit, got us the win.
‘So it’s just the playoff toughness of the guys that was the key,’ he added.
But Guiao said the concern now for him and the Elasto Painters is whether they can replicate or sustain that in Game 2 set Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium when they aim for a 2-0 lead.
‘It’s the ‘buwis-buhay’ attitude of our team. But the question now is, can we do it two more times?’ Guiao said. ‘We’re not playing the old format where if you win once or twice, you get to the next round. Now you really have to win in a series.
‘And if it is a series, there’s no fluke involved. There’s no lucky game, there’s no one or two lucky games. You need to win three good games. You need to be consistent in order to get to the next round.’