Rain or Shine Elastopainters earned a share of league leadership in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup with a 91-82 victory over the Terrafirma Dyip at the Angeles University Foundation Arena Powered by Smart 5G, yesterday, Friday, October 16.
The Elastopainters faced some anxious moments but leaned on Rey Nambatac who drilled the crucial points to preserve the Rain or Shine victory.
“Unang una mindset ko bounce back talaga from my bad game against San Miguel,” said Nambatac. “Aggressive ako from the start. Alam ko doon ko makukuha ang initiative ko. To be honest yung panalo namin against San Miguel, malaking bagay. Hopefully yung kumpyansa namin madadala namin sa other games.”
He finished with 19 points, 3 assists, 2 assists and 2 steals to earn Player of the Game honors.
Nambatac converted back-to-back baskets, the second a triple, to hike the Elastopainters’ lead to 16 big points, 82-66, with six minutes left to play.
Aldrech Ramos scored on a follow-up to cap a 10-0 Terrafirma blast which cut the Rain or Shine lead to six points, 82-76. But Nambatac doused cold water on that rally when he drilled another triple to increase the Rain or Shine lead back to nine, 85-76, with two minutes to play.
With the win the Elastopainters (2 wins, 0 loss) joined unbeaten teams Phoenix Fuel Masters (2-0), TNT Tropang Giga (2-0) and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (2-0) at the top of the standings.
The other teams include the San Miguel Beermen (1-1), Blackwater Elite ( 1-1), Meralco Bolts (1-1), Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (1-1), Dyip (0-2), Alaska Aces (0-2), NLEX Road Warriors (0-2) and NorthPort Batang Pier (0-2).
Nambatac faked off Roosevelt Adams then converted a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to extend the Rain or Shine lead to 10 points at halftime, 44-34.
Terrafirma grabbed the lead briefly in the third after Juami Tiongson drained a jumper to peg the count at 52-50 for the Dyip. Beau Belga countered with a charity split but Roosevelt Adams drilled a triple to hike the Dyip lead to four, 55-51, with 4:39 to go in the third.
The Elastopainters recovered the initiative later in the period. Sydney Onwubere split his charities to peg the count 66-58 for Rain or Shine after three quarters.
The Elastopainters then kept the Dyip at bay with timely baskets. With the shot clock running out Beau Belga pushed off CJ Perez then converted a jumper and the bonus free throw to hike the Rain or Shine lead to 11 points, 77-66, with a little over 7 minutes to play.
The scores:
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 91—Rey Nambatac 19, Gabe Norwood 14, Javee Mocon 14, Beau Belga 14, Sydney Onwubere 8, Kris Rosales 6, James Yap 4, Norbert Torres 4, Jewel Ponferada 3, Adrian Wong 3, Mark Borboran 2, Vince Tolentino 0.
Terrafirma Dyip 82—CJ Perez 26, Juami Tiongson 15, Glenn Khobuntin 12, Roosevelt Adams 10, Andreas Cahilig 7, Aldrech Ramos 6, Eric Camson 5, Reden Celda 1, Joseph Gabayni 0, Keith Agovida 0, Rashawn McCarthy 0, Christian Balagasay 0, JP Calvo 0, Jeepy Faundo 0,
Quarter scores: 19-16; 44-34; 66-58; 91-82.