MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters secured the No. 1 spot in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup with a 106-99 overtime win over Meralco Bolts on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Reginald Johnson led the way with double-double 21 points and 18 rebounds, Maverick Ahanmisi added 20 markers, while Chris Tiu and Eduardo Daquioag had 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Painters.
Painters (9-1) secured the top seed heading into the playoffs as well as a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals regardless of the outcome of its final elimination round match against TNT KaTropa on July 7.
Rain or Shine surged to a 21-11 lead behind Johnson, Daquioag and Raymond Almazan. Bolts rallied to take a 34-30 lead but Painters turned things around with shots from Ahanmisi for a 64-51 halftime lead.
Painters went on to build its largest lead 73-55 after a triple by Gabe Norwood but Bolts clawed back anew to come to within 81-84. Painters was up 92-86 after a James Yap shot when Bolts made its last run to force an overtime.
In the extension, Painters surged to a 101-98 lead on 5 straight points by Johnson. After Bolts cut the deficit 99-102 Tiu converted a free throw followed by a triple by Daquioag to seal the win for Painters.
Chris Newsome finished with 21 points and 11 assists, while Arinze Onuaku had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Bolts, which suffered its second straight loss and slid to 7-4.
In the second game, Justin Brownlee and LA Tenorio ignited a huge scoring run in the first half as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings romped past Alaska Aces 105-86.
Brownlee and Tenorio took turns on the offensive end in the first half for a 63-38 halftime lead. Aces opened the second half with a 10-1 run to come to within 16 points but Brownlee unloaded outside shots to keep the gap wide.
Brownlee finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Tenorio added 12 markers for Kings, which improved to a 5-5 win-loss slate. Aces dropped to 7-3./PN
