Rain or Shine survives San Miguel Beer's late run to claim first victory inside bubble

Rain or Shine claimed their first victory inside the PBA bubble after surviving San Miguel Beer's late run, 87-83, in the elimination round of the Philippine Cup on Tuesday.

Down by 13 at the opening of the fourth quarter, Alex Cabagnot scored eight points to power SMB's 15-6 run and come within striking distance, 73-69.

Javee Mocon fired from downtown to reignite the ROS attack and widen their gap, but another San Miguel charge cut their deficit to just three, 81-78, capped by a Mo Tautuaa triple with less than a minute to go.

Terrence Romeo followed suit and connected to put them within a one point, 82-81, but Rey Nambatac saved the day for ROS and hit his own trey with 12 ticks left on the clock.

Romeo made a jumper with just a second left in the game but Mocon's two from the stripe sealed the victory for the E-Painters.

Mocon, who delivered 25 points for Rain or Shine, said his confidence comes from playing with some of the country's best players.

"It's always high kasi I'm playing with James Yap, Gabe Norwood, Beau Belga, wala ka nang hihilingin pa eh," he said.

But for head coach Caloy Garcia, Mocon's performance was simply par for the course.

"When we got him, we already expected him to play like that since last year. Lumalaban lagi, he doesn't stop," he said.

With the loss, San Miguel now has a 1-1 card, with their win against Magnolia back in March already counted.

On Friday, San Miguel will play TNT while Rain or Shine will face Terrafirma.

Box score:

Rain or Shine 87 — Mocon 25, Rosales 15, Belga 12, Borboran 9, Ponferada 7, Onwubere 6, Torres 4, Nambatac 4, Norwood 3, Doliguez 2, Wong 0.

San Miguel 83 — Lassiter 20, Cabagnot 18, Tautuaa 17, Romeo 11, Gamalinda 5, Ross 4, Mamaril 3, Santos 2, Escoto 2, Pessumal 1, Zamar 0, De Guzman 0.

—MGP, GMA News