PBA: Ginebra spoils Tiu's return with come-from-behind win against Rain or Shine

The Barangay's never-say-die attitude was in full display on Sunday, as Ginebra San Miguel climbed back from an 18-point hole to defeat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 97-90, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

LA Tenorio had 20 points, 10 assists with a 10-of-11 clip from the foul line to stretch Ginebra's win streak to four straight games. That gave them a 6-5 card, tied with Meralco for the fourth spot in the standings.

Rain or Shine on the other hand fell to 8-4, for third place, behind league-leading Talk 'N Text and the San Mig Coffee Mixers.

"We didn't play well in the first half; terrible, we came out flat. Good thing we were able to stick together and grind through this one, especially in a game that we really struggled," said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen. "Good [thing] other people stepped up. Jayjay [Helterbrand] filled the void, [Willy] Wilson, [Yousef] Taha gave us energy and [Chris] Ellis."

Rain or Shine entered the fourth with their 18-point lead slashed to only six, 75-69. TY Tang opened the payoff period with a trey, before Yousef Taha completed an and-one play, 78-72.

A Tenorio trey with five minutes left cut the lead to four, 81-77, before a Billy Mamaril jumper had Ginebra inching even closer.

Jeff Chan converted on a three and a jumper, but two triples from Tenorio and Jayjay Helterbrand sliced their deficit to two, before Chris Ellis completed a three-point play on the break to give Ginebra the lead, 89-88, with 1:51 remaining.

With 40 seconds left, JR Quiñahan was whistled for a foul, giving Willy Wilson two free throws to up the lead to three, 91-88.
After a Chan miss, LA Tenorio sank two pressure-packed free throws to bring their advantage up to five, 93-88, with 16 seconds remaining.

Quiñahan hit a quick two to cut the lead to three, but Rain or Shine was whistled for their second delay of game infraction, giving Tenorio an extra free throw, 94-90.

With 13.3 ticks left, Caguioa split from the line for a five-point lead, as Chris Ellis ended the game with a reverse windmill slam for the final score.

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters started the game with a 6-0 run which quickly turned into a 24-12 separation in the middle of the first quarter. Chris Tiu made his long-awaited return following a hamstring injury with a little over a minute left in the quarter to a chorus of cheers from the Rain or Shine fans and boos from the Ginebra crowd. A three-point basket from JR Quinahan with 40 seconds left gave the Elasto Painters a 31-19 lead, while two free throws from Jervy Cruz and a split from Caguioa ended the first canto with Rain or Shine leading 33-20.

Tiu made his presence felt by scoring Rain or Shine's first basket in the second quarter. The former Ateneo King Eagle followed this up with an assist to Quinahan for a wide-open three to build a huge 16-point bubble for the Elasto Painters. A three from Tiu at the 8:43 mark gave the Elasto Painters a 43-25 lead, but Billy Mamaril replied with a follow-up for Ginebra. Caguioa and Tenorio also produced five straight points to trim the ROS lead to 11.

A put-back from Rico Maierhofer sliced the Elasto Painters' lead to nine, but Beau Belga and Cruz combined for seven straight points for a 52-36 separation. Another three from Belga with nine seconds left in the quarter gave the Elasto Painters a 57-40 lead, but two Tenorio free throws brought the difference back down to 15 at the half.

Cruz led all scorers at the half with 15 points. The former UAAP MVP scored on 11 free throws and two field goals in the first two quarters, but he only scored two more points the rest of the way.

The third quarter started with another three point shot from Tiu. Back-to-back baskets from Rodriguez stretched the lead back to 17 at 66-49 for the Elasto Painters with 7:01 left in the third. The Kings then went on a 5-0 run to wake up the Ginebra crowd, but Tang and Rodriguez combined for a 5-0 run of their own.

Ginebra got their running game going in the latter parts of the third quarter. Ellis scored on a dunk and a lay-up, while Helterbrand connected on three straight free throws to cut the lead to nine at 75-66. A free throw from Yousef Taha and a lay-up from Ellis sliced the lead further down to six to give Ginebra the momentum going into the final quarter.

The Kings' comeback was done with little help from Caguioa, the team's heart and soul. The reigning MVP struggled with his shooting in the third quarter which led the coaching staff to try a different approach.

"It's a really hard decision and we were debating on it the entire game, kasi kung sa giyera siya yung gusto mong makasama," Tanquingcen said about Caguioa's benching. "Pero makikita mo na he was struggling the entire game so we decided to keep him on the bench and it turned out to be a blessing."

"The good thing was we were able to stick together as a team," added Tanquincen. "Siyempre sa dug-out maraming frustrations yan pero we stuck together and won the game."

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters looked liked they were on their way to keeping in step with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters at the top of the standings. They scored 33 and 24 in the first two quarters but they ran out of bullets in the second half, getting only 18 and 15 in the third and fourth period, respectively. The Elastopainters sorely missed the scoring that Norwood usually brings, as the lanky player failed to score a single point in 28 minutes of play.

"It's a good indication for our team but we still have a long way to go," said Tanquingcen. "It's a blessing that we were able to squeak this one out."

The Kings still have a meeting with the Air21 Express and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters to try and get a better seeding heading into the quarterfinals, but even though they dug a deep hole for themselves early in the conference, this Ginebra team is looking like they are near their peak form. - Carlo Pamintuan / Renee Fopalan, GMA News