PBA: Rain or Shine corrals Abueva, snaps Alaska's five game winning steak

 

The Aces led for the first three quarters, before the Elastopainters clamped down on defense late in the game to snap Alaska's five-game winning streak, 101-93, Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

 

"Alaska is the hottest team and streaks have to end somewhere," said Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao. "Probably, the law of averages is working for us in this game."

 

Chan hit seven straight points early in the payoff period to give the Elastopainters its first taste of the lead since the first quarter, 87-84. A Quiñahan jumper at the 6:54 mark made it 89-84, before Cyrus Baguio and Gabby Espinas made it a two-point game, 89-87.

 

But just when Alaska was out to make a comeback, Ronnie Matias got away with an and-one to give Rain or Shine its biggest lead at five. The Elastopainters continued to pour it on, as a Beau Belga drive and a Gabe Norwood pull-up jumper made it a nine-point game with 3:20 to go, 96-87.

 

A Dondon Hontiveros trey made it a six-point game with 2:16 remaining, but Belga hit a jumper to mark the last two minutes, 98-90. Back to back misses from the three-point area by Baguio spelled doom for Alaska, as the Elastopainters dribbled the time away for the final score.

 

Chan paced the Elastopainters with 22 big markers, but it was Quiñahan's performance that made a difference for Rain or Shine with 20 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Araña and Larry Rodiguez also scored in double figures with 13 and 12, respectively.

 

"Actually, long delayed na nga yun. Matagal ko na hinahantay na mag-explode si JR Quiñahan; it's not a surprise," shared Guiao. "May buti naman talaga yang batang yan; pag sumobra lang sa kanin."

 

For Alaska, Jayvee Casio and Cyrus Bagio scored 16 each while Gabby Espinas chipped in 13.

 

"We know Abueva hasn't lost a game since he played," said Guiao. "Hindi naman yung beast papatay sa amin e, yung mga surot- si Casio at si Baguio."

 

"At yun, sila nga talaga, we just put a little pressure on them. Probably they got tired dun lang kami nakalayo," added Guiao.

 

An Araña basket at the 5:08 mark of the first quarter gave the Elasto Painters their first taste of the lead at 10-9. The Aces went on a 13-5 run capped by a four point play from Casio to grab a 22-15 lead. The first quarter ended with Alaska on top 25-22 after RJ Jazul and Beau Belga exchanged three point baskets.

 

The Aces built their first double digit lead at 32-22 in the second quarter. As a response, the Elastopainters strung together a 6-0 run with TY Tang scoring on the break. The tail end of the second quarter turned into a free throw shooting contest between the two teams with Chan nailing the last two to trim the Alaska lead to four, 47-43.

 

A layup by Gabe Norwood at the 5:52 mark of the third quarter cut the lead to one, 61-60, but Baguio and Jazul combined for five points to give the Aces some breathing room. The Aces heated up from the perimeter with Eddie Laure, Mac Baracael, and Casio chipping in points for a 77-71 lead going into the fourth quarter.

 

Guiao commended Alaska and said that they will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season. "This Alaska team is a much better than last conference and they will be a solid contender," Guiao said. "It will be more difficult to beat them next time."

 

Regarding his team, the multi-titled coach thinks that they are still far from their peak form. 

 

"This is a young team and we know we have reached our full potential yet," he said. "We're excited about the return of Paul Lee but he's still at least a month away from playing. Chris Tiu will play this November. I think he's two weeks away."

 

For his part, Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo admitted that they lacked the effort in this game: 

 

"We had guys out there not knowing what to do," he said. "Rain or Shine played excellent defense."

 

Alaska struggled offensively in the game. They only converted on 41.% percent of their shots. 

 

"We had guys who had off nights. We had some layups but we missed them," admitted Trillo. "Granted that we struggled on offense but there'e no excuse on defense. We chickened out tonight."

 

Alaska center Sonny Thoss missed some easy shots under the rim and rookie sensation Calvin Abueva was limited to only 7 points and 6 rebounds in only 18 minutes of action. "Calvin was sick, Trillo explained. "He missed a practice and he is not yet 100%."

 

Trillo rued their effort on the defensive side. "We came out of the half time thinking that we had this in the bag," he said. "We allowed them to score 28 in the third and 30 in the fourth. You can't win in the PBA if you allow that to happen." - Carlo Pamintuan / Renee Avena Fopalan, GMA News

 

The scores:

 

RAIN OR SHINE 101 - Chan 22, Quinahan 20, Araña 13, Rodriguez 12, Norwood 9, Matias 8, Belga 7, Tang 4, Ibanes 4, Cruz 2.

 

ALASKA 93 - Casio 16, Baguio 16, Espinas 13, Baracael 9, Dela Cruz 8, Hontiveros 8, Abueva 7, Jazul 6, Thoss 4, Laure 4, Eman 2, Reyes 0.

 

Quarters: 22-25, 43-47, 71-77, 101-93