By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gabe Norwood kept Rain or Shine in the game before Gian Mamuyac and Andrei Caracut delivered the goods in the crunch to survive TNT, 91-89, in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Convention Center in Cagayan de Oro on Saturday, Nov. 15.
After his counterpart put up a vintage performance last time out, it was Norwood’s turn to wind back the clock as he fired 14 of his 16 points in the middle quarters to help the Elasto Painters, slowly but surely, overcome a once 18-point deficit.
ROS then went on a fiery 9-0 run to finally get back into the contest before Caracut showed great poise putting the Elasto Painters ahead twice inside the last five minutes – the last one a floater against the shot clock to give his team a 90-89 lead.
Two free throw misses from Adrian Nocum and a split from Clarito kept the window open for a TNT comeback but the returning Caelan Tiongson as well as Mike Malonzo fought for the loose ball enough to run out the clock for the Tropang 5G.
Norwood also had nine rebounds and five assists to his name as ROS seized the solo top spot of the standings with a 6-1 record just before the league takes a three-week break for the November window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Historically, the six wins should be enough to give ROS a sure spot in the playoffs but it still needs further confirmation given how tight the standings are right now.
Gian Mamuyac also finished with 14 while Caracut led five ROS players with at least seven points.
TNT, which fell to a 5-2 record, in tie with San Miguel, NLEX, Converge and Magnolia, played without star forward Calvin Oftana due to hamstring issues.
The Tropang 5G led early, 24-6, behind the hot start of Rey Nambatac, who shared the scoring honors with RR Pogoy, with 18 apiece. Jordan Heading also chipped in 15 and Henry Galinato had 13 in a losing effort.
