Adrian Nocum’s career night was overshadowed by two turnovers that contributed to Rain or Shine’s Game 2 loss and enabled Converge to level their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinal series.
Nocum dished out 18 assists on Friday, most of which came when the Elasto Painters made their run in the second half of the game held at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
But Nocum was quick to acknowledge that he was the guilty party in those pair of miscues that eventually set up Mikey Williams’ three-point shot that extended the FiberXers’ lead down to the final 35 seconds.
Before Williams’ shot, Rain or Shine trailed 124-123, with a chance to take the lead.
‘Balewala yun kasi natalo kami (That was nothing because we lost),’ Nocum, who also had 22 points, said on his assist numbers. ‘I have to play smarter and make better decisions during crunch time.’
The Elasto Painters rising star registered the most assists by any player since the 2012-13 Philippine Cup when Mike Cortez also had 18 for Air21 in a 105-100 loss to Talk N’ Text. The PBA record is 28 set by Eugene Quilban for 7-Up in 1992.
Behind Nocum’s playmaking, Rain or Shine came back from 15 down and either tied or took the lead during the fourth quarter. He also knocked down a three-point shot that evened the count at 120-all, the game’s last deadlock.
It was the second straight game that Rain or Shine came back, having won Game 1 despite being down by 21. But Nocum knows it can’t rely on similar situations moving forward.
‘We’re just eager to win, but I hope we don’t fall into another big deficit because it’s really hard to make a run and it wears you out. So next game we have to keep it close,’ he said.