RAIN or Shine muscled its way down the stretch to carve a difficult 99-95 escape win over Mahindra in a thrilling overtime showdown of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Shawn Taggart turned in another solid showing, scoring a game-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds to lead the Painters again while getting help from James Yap and Beau Belga, who each added 12 markers.
Down, 90-93, after the first minute of the extension, the Elasto Painters kept their composure and delivered the most critical run of the game as they finished strong when it mattered.
Rain or Shine closed the game out with 9-2 run to steal Mahindra’s thunder and take the hard-fought game in the bag.
As a result, the Elasto Painters are now the early tournament leaders, improving to 2-0, while the Floodbuster dropped to 0-2 at the bottom.
Mahindra took a vital 86-60 lead after a 6-0 run in the fourth period, capped by a triple from Gary David with 2:34 left following an 80-all deadlock with less than five minutes remaining.
Rain or Shine fought its way back and tied the game at 88-all with just over 30 seconds remaining, paving way for a down-the-wire finish.
The two teams then each had a chance to win the game but Jeff Chan and James White, one after the other, missed on their attempts in the final two plays in regulation, sending the game into overtime.
White also had 29 points for Mahindra.
Both teams were really keen to outdo each other as they clawed back and forth all the way with no team gaining significant advantage for most part.
The first half ended in favor of Rain or Shine, 45-43.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 99 – Taggart 29, Belga 12, Yap 12, Chan 10, Almazan 9, Ahanmisi 8, Washington 6, Ponferada 5, Tiu 5, Cruz 2, Norwood 1, Tolomia 0, Trollano 0.
MAHINDRA 95 – White 29, David 13, Galanza 10, Celda 10, Deutchman 9, Paniamogan 8, Mallari 6, Caperal 4, Revilla 3, Guevarra 2, Salva 1, Teng 0, Yee 0, Arana 0, Salva 0, Ballesteros 0.
Quarterscores: 22-24, 45-43, 68-66, 88-88, 99-95.