Taipei, Taiwan — Rain or Shine crumbled in the fourth quarter anew and absorbed another heartbreaking 93-86 loss, this time, against Qatar in the 2023 William Jones Cup at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium here on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
The Elasto Painters simply cannot get anything going in the final frame as the Qataris delivered the big hits in the final five minutes to keep the Filipinos searching for its first win after four games in the tournament.
Naturalized player Michael Lewis and forward Nedim Muslic were the biggest thorns to the side of the Elasto Painters, combining for 15 of Qatar’s 24 fourth quarter points.
Lewis, despite getting hounded by a variety of Rain or Shine defense, led the way with 19 points.
Ndoye Seydou chipped in 18 while Muslic finished with 12 for Qatar which seized control of the contest after a brief altercation between its big man Haracic Meho and Rain or Shine’s Nick Demusis with 7:25 left and the game knotted at 73-all.
The loss wasted Nick Evans’ best performance in ROS uniform, topscoring the team with 20 points.
However, just like in the last game, he vanished when he was needed the most, only scoring four points in the second half.
Anton Asistio chipped in 16 points while Santi Santillan had 12 as the Elasto Painters try to pick up its first win against Iran on Wednesday, Aug. 13
