MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters battled back from nine points down to beat Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, 90-88, in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Down 77-86 midway in the fourth period, the Painters slowly carved its way up behind back-to-back inside hits by Henry Walker and a two-pointer by Mark Borboran to trim the deficit to 83-86.
The Fuel Masters widened the lead to 88-83 on a conversion by Chris Banchero. The Painters answered back with a three-pointer from Beau Belga to come to within 86-88.
After several misses, the Painters notched the lead at 89-88 on a three-point play by Rey Nambatac. It was followed by a split free throw by Borboran to make it 90-88 score with eight seconds left.
Nambatac finished the match with 17 points. Belga added 16 markers, including four triples, to go with eight rebounds and six assists. The Painters improved to 2-1.
Walker battled foul trouble and physical defending by Fuel Masters’’ Jason Perkins to finish with 15 markers, as Leonard Santillan had double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds for ROS.
Paul Harris led the Fuel Masters (2-1) with 17 points, 20 rebounds and six assists, while Banchero, Sean Manganti and Matthew Wright added 14, 11 and 10, respectively.
Meralco Bolts, the runner-up in the previous PBA Governors’ Cup in 2019, had a dominant start in the season-ending conference after a 98-77 beating of Blackwater Bossing in the first game.
From a 16-all score after the first 12 minutes, the Bolts outscored the Bossing 32-20 in the second quarter behind reinforcement Tony Bishop and Nard John Pinto for a 48-36 advantage at the half.
Meralco continued its rampage in the second half with Raymond Almazan and Bishop dominating inside as the lead reached its largest at 95-71 on a three-pointer by Alvin Pasaol.
Bishop, who took over the spot of Meralco resident import Allen Durham, tallied double-double 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Pinto and Chris Newsome added 18 and 11 points, respectively.
BOX SCORE:
RAIN OR SHINE 90 — Nambatac 17, Belga 16, Walker 15, Santillan 13, Borboran 8, Mocon 6, Wong 6, Caracut 4, Norwood 3, Ponferrada 2, Jackson 0, Torres 0.
PHOENIX 88 — Harris 17, Banchero 14, Manganti 11, Wright 10, Perkins 8, Melecio 8, Jazul 8, Rios 6, Garcia 4, Camacho 2, Muyang 0, Chua 0.
Quarterscores: 16-23, 44-50, 71-71, 90-88./PN
