Rain or Shine spoils Converge's PBA debut

The Rain or Shine Elastopainters spoiled the debut of the Converge FiberXers in the Philippine Basketball Association, 79-77, on Sunday in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After trailing 38-31 at the end of the first half, Rain or Shine poured 26 points in the third quarter against Converge's 17 to close the said frame at 57-55.

The FiberXers reclaimed the lead, 69-62, near the halfway mark of the fourth period on a 10-0 run, six of which came from Alec Stockton.

However, Rain or Shine crawled back and took the lead again, 75-73, after an Andrei Caracut triple sparked a 9-0 run for the Elastopainters which was capped by a shot from Rey Nambatac at the 1:37 mark.

RK Ilagan's free throws and Jeron Teng's layup gave the FiberXers a two-point lead,  before Beau Belga drilled a triple to give Rain or Shine a 78-77 lead with 14 ticks remaining.

A split from Santillan off a Jeron Teng foul sealed the deal for Rain or Shine.

Santillan flirted with a double-double, 18 points and nine rebounds, while Belga tallied 17 points off four triples.

Meanwhile, Teng's 23-13 statline was spoiled in the loss. Tyrus Hill listed five points and 11 boards, while rookie Jeo Ambohot had seven points and ten rebounds. Justin Arana had six points and nine rebounds in his first PBA game.

Rain or Shine will play on Thursday against NorthPort Batang Pier, while Converge will be back in action on Friday when they play the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots. Both games will be played at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The scores:

Rain or Shine 79 – Santillan 18, Belga 17, Caracut 10, Torres 10, Nieto 8, Nambatac 8, Asistio 5, Norwood 3, Tolentino 0, Ponferrada 0, Mamuyac 0, Ildefonso 0, Borboran 0.

Converge 77 – Teng 23, Stockton 13, Ilagan 10, Ambohot 7, Arana 6, Adamos 5, Hill 5, DiGregorio 4, Bulanadi 2, Lojera 2, Tolomia 0, Racal 0.

Quarters: 16-19, 31-38,57-55,79-77.

—JMB, GMA News