Rain or Shine sends Coca-Cola deeper down the standings

source: gmanews.tv

Rain or Shine Elasto just doesn’t want to be branded as the worst team in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the moment. The tag belongs to the Coca-Cola Tigers, the Elasto Painters made sure about that.

Behind the conference-high in points and assists by Sol Mercado, Rain or Shine rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to nip Coca-Cola, 92-84, its first-ever franchise win against the team.

Mercado nailed 24 points and issued eight assists – both personal bests this conference – and added four rebounds and two steals in 40 minutes of playing time Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The burly playmaker shot 7-of-15 from the field and missed only a free throw out of his 10 attempts.

This marked the first time in seven consecutive outings that the Elasto Painters had beaten the Tigers since joining the league two seasons ago.

And following the breakthrough win against the Tigers, coach Caloy Garcia could only hope for better things to come for his team.

“I always believe in my players that they are capable of playing good and winning. The only problem we have is consistency. We were down inthe third quarter and still were able to win. It’s a morale-booster ," said Garcia.

Jeff Chan added 16 points – 11 coming in the fourth period – and Eddie Laure had 11 points for Rain or Shine, which has now tied Barako Bull for eighth and ninth spots with its second win in nine games and won despite losing the battle off the boards, 54-37.

Mark Macapagal scored 16, Larry Rodriguez 15, Alex Cabagnot 13 and Dennis Espino 13 for the Tigers, who were relegated to the bottom of the 10-team standings with their seventh defeat in eight games.

It was a great comeback for the Painters, who at one stage of the game were staring at a huge 54-40 deficit in the third period.

But they managed to rally in the same stretch, grabbed the lead at 60-58 going into the final period, and even built an 82-67 advantage with 5:53 left to play after a three-point shot by TY Tang from the right corner.

The scores:

Rain or Shine 92 – Mercado 24, Chan 16, Laure 11, Norwood 8, Tang 8, Arana 7, Reyes 5, Hrabak 5, Cruz 4, Telan 4, Ubanes 0.

Coca-Cola 84 – Macapagal 16, Rodriguez 15, Cabagnot 13, Espino 10, Calimag 9, Gonzales 9, Ross 7, Rizada 5, Allera 0, Bono 0, Gonzales 0, Singson 0.

Quarterscores: 24-21; 36-48; 60-58; 92-84.