By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine pounced on the absence of Arvin Tolentino and sank NorthPort, 113-96 to pick up its first win in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Wednesday, April 16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painter went off to a hot start behind the efforts of Gian Mamuyac and then kept the Batang Pier at bay to bounce back from their loss to the NLEX Road Warriors in their debut.
Mamuyac had 13 of his 22 points in the opening frame while Santi Santillan added 17 points and 10 rebounds to hold the fort in the ROS’ depleted frontline that was missing Beau Belga and Keith Datu.
Caelan Tiongson and Andrei Caracut also stepped up with 15 apiece while Adrian Nocum had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Picking up the pieces from their 95-109 loss to NLEX, Rain or Shine made sure to open the contest on the right foot, taking control of the tempo early to take a 31-17 advantage.
Meanwhile, Mark Barroca was firing blanks all game long until he decided that it was finally time to take charge.
The veteran playmaker came up clutch in overtime, burying two long two-pointers to lift Magnolia past San Miguel, 98-96, and stay perfect through three games.
Missing all of his first eight attempts in the game, Barroca made sure to deliver the killing blows, first a long deuce off a Paul Lee kickout to give the Hotshots a precarious 96-95 lead with less than a minute remaining, and then another, this time off a swing pass from Jerom Lastimosa for the marginal basket with 7.3 seconds left.
San Miguel still had the chance to extend the contest to a second overtime but Don Trollano missed the right corner triple before Barroca grabbed the rebound to seal the win.
Magnolia improved to a 3-0 record for the early lead in the standings while SMB slipped to a 2-1 slate.
The heroics of Barroca, who finished with seven points on a 2-of-10 shooting from the field, preserved the solid outing from the Hotshots’ young guns in Lastimosa and Zav Lucero.
Lucero finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while Lastimosa had a breakout game of 21 points and five assists.
The young bloods were aptly supported by their veterans with Calvin Abueva posting a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while Paul Lee added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
