JERICHO Cruz and Jeff Chan led Rain Or Shine’s offensive down the stretch to tow the Elasto Painters to a well-earned 103-98 grinder over skidding Mahindra for their third straight win in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
Cruz and Chan scored 14 of Rain or Shine’s final 18 points in the last five minutes as hey stepped it up big time in the crunch to lift the Elasto Painters in the highly contested tilt against the gritty Enforcers.
Chan finished with a conference-best 18 points built on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown and had five rebounds, while Cruz also had 18.
JR Quinahan top-scored for Rain or Shine with 19 points, 14 in the first half, while Mo Charlo had 16.
A triple from Chan followed by a putback from Cruz allowed Rain or Shine to grab the lead, 98-95, with 1:46 remaining.
After Mahindra inched within just three, 97-100, with less than 40 seconds left, Chan shoved Rain or Shine to safety after a nifty play resulted into a lay-up with 35.6 seconds left, stretching the Painters’ lead to five, 102-97, to practically take home the win.
The Elasto Painters have now won three in a row following a 1-3 start and are now tied with Barangay Ginebra for fourth place on similar 4-3 slates, while the Enforcers, who started the conference at 3-1, have lost their third in a row and dropped to 3-4.
Rain or Shine was forced to play sans head coach Yeng Guiao in the entire second half as the fiery coach was ejected late in the first half, giving Mahindra some sort of advantage.
“I’m not really too happy with the way we won, but it’s still a win,” said Guiao, who watched the second half in the press room.