The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters came back from 18 points down and survived a heated, physical endgame marred by crowd unrest to emerge victorious, 82-79, over crowd favorites Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
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Rain or Shine fell behind by 18 points in the first half but needed another huge comeback in the endgame after Ginebra took a 79-71 lead with 4:28 remaining in the game.
The Elasto Painters scored the last 11 points of the game, though, as they escaped with the victory, their sixth in nine games this conference.
Import Wayne Chism finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds while Paul Lee had 18 points and 11 boards to lead Rain or Shine.
Beau Belga, the object of the pro-Ginebra crowd’s ire in the fourth quarter, scored 11 points as well.
The fourth quarter saw an ugly incident wherein two fans were escorted out of the venue after throwing items in the direction of the playing court after Belga and Ginebra star Mark Caguioa got tangled up underneath the Rain or Shine basket.
The two were called for a double foul but the game was halted for a short period as the PBA identified the erring members of the crowd and kicked them out of the Astrodome.
With the win, Rain or Shine drew level with Talk ‘N Text and Purefoods in a three-way tie for second place while Ginebra dropped down to 4-5.
The scores:
Rain or Shine (82) – Chism 28, Lee 18, Belga 11, Quinahan 8, Ibanes 6, Almazan 5, Uyloan 2, Arana 2, Cruz 2, Chan 0, Norwood 0, Tiu 0.
Ginebra (79) – Dunigan 24, Slaughter 10, Aguilar 9, Ellis 9, Caguioa 8, Yeo 7, Tenorio 7, Monfort 3, Baracael 2, Pena 0.
Quarterscores: 15-24, 38-48, 65-63.
Source : PBA
