By REYNALD MAGALLON
As if his team’s backs are not against the wall, Adrian Nocum simply made the Ninoy Aquino Stadium his personal playground.
The high-flying guard generated oohs and aahs with his acrobatic attacks and blitzing drives as he powered Rain or Shine to a 114-104 victory over Converge to force a do-or-die Game 3 in their quarterfinals series in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner Cup on Friday, Feb. 7.
More than the energy and the spectacular show, Nocum exploded for 16 of his 28 points in the final frame as the Elasto Painters created the much-needed separation to live to fight for another day on Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Deon Thompson also bounced back with a huge double-double of 28 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists after exiting early due to foul trouble in the series opener.
Jhonard Clarito added 19 while Anton Asistio had 10 for ROS which weathered the initial storm of Jordan Heading who fired 18 in the opening frame to give Converge an early 25-13 lead.
Meanwhile, Jansen Rios was a spark off the bench while Akil Mitchell posted a triple-double as Meralco struck back with a pulsating 108-104 victory over Ginebra.
Struggling with his offense due to an injury, Mitchell more than made up for it by doing a little bit of everything while Rios proved to be an extra boost on both ends of the floor to keep the comebacking Kings at bay in the final frame.
Meralco led by as many as 12 points in the final frame but still had to fend off a huge rally from Ginebra in the waning minutes to force a sudden death Game 3 on Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Mitchell had 13 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists to lead a balanced attack for the Bolts who had five other players scoring in double figures.
Rios fired 15 off the bench to provide support to the 24 points of Chris Newsome and 17 points and six rebounds from Cliff Hodge.
