Rain or Shine used a strong fourth quarter to beat Converge, 90-84, in the PBA Philippine Cup at Ynares Sports Center in Montalban, Rizal, on Sunday night.
After a neck-and-neck three quarters, the Elasto Painters shifted to a higher gear late in the fourth period to improve to a league-best 7-2 record.
‘Converge was still in it with their momentum so thankfully we got our shots in late. It’s a big win for us,’ Gian Mamuyac said.
‘[There’s] still a lot of things to improve on but I’m just proud of my team and coaches with how we fought today.’
Converge led by just a point, 75-74, early in the fourth quarter courtesy of a Larry Muyang short stab.
Rain or Shine responded with a 16-6 run capped by a Gian Mamuyac triple for a 90-81 lead at the 2:35 mark of the payoff period.
Mamuyac finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
‘We just kept the pace fast. We felt that with their bigs having foul troubles and playing small ball, we were able to speed up the game,’ coach Yeng Guiao explained.
‘It helped that when we went small, we maintained the pace of the game,’ he added.
Helping Mamuyac in the Elasto Painters win were Santi Santillan and Andrei Caracut, who finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Mike Malonzo also recorded a double-double in the victory with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Juan Gomez de Liaño impressed anew with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss. Muyang nearly had a double-double with 18 points and nine boards while Justine Baltazar dominated the paint with 10 points and 21 rebounds in a losing effort.
Converge dropped to a three-way logjam for the third seed with NLEX and Magnolia at 6-3.
As for the Elasto Painters, they will be flying to Bahrain next week for a clash with the Hotshots at Khalifa sports City Stadium.