PBA: Quiñahan, Belga lift Rain or Shine past Talk 'N Text

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters jammed the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, 90-88, in the PLDT MyDSL 2014 PBA Philippine Cup, Saturday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

 

Beau Belga hit the go-ahead basket from the right baseline with just over a minute remaining in the game.

 

JR Quinahan and Belga scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, and had four rebounds each. Rookie Alex Nuyles notched 13 points, five rebounds and six assists.

 

Talk 'N Text leaned on Ranidel De Ocampo for the equalizer over the next two possessions, but the sweet-shooting big man couldn't follow through after torturing Rain or Shine for the previous 47 minutes. De Ocampo's drive was blocked on the very next trip, and his jumper failed to connect with the clock winding down, allowing the Elasto Painters to log another W in the books.

 

"We just rode on our energy; we just tried to stay aggressive all the way to the end-game. We did a good job against Jimmy [Alapag] and Jayson [Castro], but we couldn't control [Danny] Seigle and Ranidel," said Elasto Painters mentor Yeng Guiao. "We prepared to contain the guards but I guess we just left them out."

 

Guiao regretted his team's sub-par showing showing from the charity stripe, which made things tougher for them down the stretch. But he chose to look at his team's resiliency despite trailing until the very last moment. "The good thing about this is we're beating the top teams in the end-game situations. It shows toughness; it shows the will to win," he said.

 

The Elasto Painters were 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) from the free throw line, while the Texters were 21-of-24 (87.5 percent).

 

Rain or Shine ties Petron at 9-3 and avenges an earlier conference loss to the Texters, when they fell 90-87. Talk 'N Text is struggling after losing two straight and three of the squad's last four, 7-5.

 

Ranidel De Ocampo caught fire immediately in the first quarter, as he converted three straight triples to push the Texters to a 16-13 lead with four minutes to play. His shooting, however, couldn't overcome Rain or Shine's aggressive play on both ends of the floor. The Elasto Painters banged inside for points, and capped the period with an Alex Nuyles triple to lead, 24-18.

 

With Jayson Castro and Danny Seigle attacking the hoop, Talk 'N Text rode a 13-7 swing to tie the game at 31-31. Chris Tiu countered for the Elasto Painters with a triple, kicking off a string of outside shots for his team to take the lead, 41-35, off a Jeff Chan trey.

But the Texters recovered as Jimmy Alapag scored on a drive at 3:03, giving them their first bucket in four minutes of play. The Mighty Mouse scored nine of TNT's last 11 points by taking advantage of the Elasto Painters' foul situation, and nailed a trey at the halftime buzzer to inch ahead, 46-45.

 

Both teams caught fire in the third quarter, capitalizing on their strengths to put points on the board. The Texters continued to rain baskets from the arc, courtesy of Fonacier and De Ocampo. On the other end, JR Quinahan's shooting opened up the driving lanes for Ryan Arana and Paul Lee, though the Elasto Painters trailed, 68-64.

 

Nuyles took the spotlight with his slashing game during the last three minutes, scoring or dishing the ball for 10 points in a 17-8 swing that extended early into the final period, 81-76. TNT made amends on the defensive end, locking the paint down while a Castro and-one revived their offense. The Texters charged into the lane and were active on the offensive glass en route to a 10-4 run, leading 86-85 on a Danny Seigle putback.

 

The Elasto Painters tied the game at 88-all after a Gabe Norwood fast break and split Belga charities, offsetting two from the stripe by Castro. Belga would later push his team ahead with a minute and change left, 90-88, as Belga hit a turnaround jumper from the right short corner.

 

The Texters called a timeout, resulting in a De Ocampo drive that was swatted clean from behind, but Rain or Shine couldn't increase the gap, as they failed to score on their first trip back and Nuyles missed a second-chance attempt from the left wing. With six seconds left, TNT secured possession and called another timeout to advance the ball.

 

TNT got the ball successfully to De Ocampo, but he missed a potential game-tying basket from the left wing.

 

Rain or Shine shot 36-of-82 (43.9 percent) from the floor while limiting TNT to a 28-of-79 (35.4 percent) mark. The victors also won on the glass, 55-47, including 16-13 offensive.

 

The Elasto Painters held 14-4 margins in both second-chance points and fast break points.

 

Ranidel De Ocampo led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc but just 2-of-9 from two-point territory to go with 13 rebounds. Danny Seigle poured 18 points and four assists, while Jayson Castro had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. - RAF, GMA News

 

The scores:

 

RAIN OR SHINE 90 - Quinahan 19, Belga 16, Nuyles 13, Lee 8, Chan 7, Cruz 6, Tiu 5, Arana 4, Rodriguez 4, Norwood 4, Tang 2, Ibanes 2, Almazan 0

 

TALK N' TEXT 88 - De Ocampo 24, Seigle 18, Castro 17, Alapag 9, Fonacier 8, Aban 4, Anthony 3, Reyes 3, Baclao 2, Peek 0, Ferriols 0, Poligrates 0, Carey 0

 

Quarter scoring: 24-18, 45-46, 71-70, 90-88